Modern Girl
by Pofforx
Summary: AU . Ayumi Shinozaki's life is at it's peak - she's aiming for art school where she can achieve her dream of being an illustrator. On the way she'll face heartbreak, gossips and rejections but also romance, new friendships new opportunities. Like Yoshiki. No? Sorry... Rated T for fluff, modern life issues and stuffs. !AYUSHIKI! AYUSHIKI! Lots of it! Yaaaaaaaaaay!
1. Chapter 1 - Train Rides

**Welcome to the first chapter of my new story, Modern Girl.**

**As well as the 7 Kisiragi students I'm going to add some OC's as well For more of a story and so I don't have to change the characters personalities an stuff.**

**i do not own anything corpse party and this is entirely my idea!**

**Enjoy! (=ﾟωﾟ)ﾉ**

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Chapter one

A young woman with her blue-black hair, pulled sleekly into a fashionable knot at the side of her head, sat at the edge of a train station bench, which was painted a dull grey and peeling off. In her slight hands was a large, transparent prodject case, about A3 sized and filled with various art works that she had taken from school. She had revised her speech a thousand times in her head, muttering it under her breath whenever she had the chance to. Today was a big day for Ayumi Shinozaki, and she wasn't likely to forget it for a long time. It had been several months since she had applied for the place at Japan's best creative arts school, and was waiting for her train to take her to it so she could be interview. Her art teacher was related to one of the interviewers there, so had made a special recommendation for her, making her go straight through to the interview stage. As well as the interview, she had to fill in a questionnaire and show some practical work that she had done in school. The art teacher had helped her pick pick out a vast range of drawings, paintings and multi media art works for her to choose from, some that were her very best and she was most proud of. Before she had left, her fellow classmates had wished her good luck. They consisted of: Satoshi Mochida, who had studied a range of subjects but had not decided on his job yet; Naomi Nakashima, who had been accepted into a nursing school already; Seiko Shinohara, who was also still studying media however hoping to be a talk show presenter on tv; and Mayu Suzomoto and Sakutaro Morishige, who had both auditioned for the same dramatically arts school, and were waiting eagerly for the results. They had all patted her on the back too, and the girls were busy sending her supportive texts, which Ayumi didn't reply to. She needed to stay focused, and keep a clear and calm mind. The wir of the train on the tracks, woke her from her daze with a jolt, making her leap up. Taking a big breath, she followed everyone else towards the train, however, was pushed aside roughly by a large, menacing looking man.  
"Excuse me," she said in an irritated tone. But the man just laughed a horrible laugh, and pushed her roughly against the wall.  
"I like 'em when their busy and cute." he boomed, spiriting rudely at her "Makes 'em a lot more fun to mess with."  
The burly man grinned at her with crooked teeth, making her wince in discomfort and shock.  
"I'm sorry, but I really can't miss this train, I have an interview-"  
"I'll be the only one interviewing you fine lil' lady..." he sneered, drawing closer to her. His breath reeked of alcohol and other nasty substances, making Ayumi practically gasp for air. He was about to draw nearer when Ayumi felt a firm hand on her shoulder,  
"Hey, I'm sorry I'm late." came the soft voice. A tall, muscular boy with floppy straw coloured hair had approached the scene, and was staring, confused at the tall man.  
"You know this kid darlin'?" the harsh man asked her, pulling away slightly. She glanced at the boy, who send her a reassuring look in return, before quickly grabbing the boys arm.  
"Yes I do actually."  
"Eh?"  
"I'm her boyfriend, and I'm here to escort her to her interview. Now please leave before I call the cops on you for...harrasment."  
The man glared at him meanly, but nonetheless backed away from Ayumi and stomped off. She let out a sigh of relief, noticing that the boy still had a firm grip on her arm. He nodded pointedly at the group of old, creepy men that were eying her still.  
"Stay with the act," he ordered, nearing the train and letting Ayumi on first before climbing up himself. They backed into an empty carriage and Ayumi flopped down on a four sweater section, putting her project case aside. The blonde boy sat opposite her with a grin.  
"You've got to be more careful around here," he said, glancing out of the window as the train left the station. "There can be some...rough people round here."  
She nodded gratefully In return, scolding herself for not getting on the train quicker. She had probably made a right fool of herself.  
"Thanks, My names Ayumi Shinozaki by the way."  
"Yoshiki Kishinuma. Where are you heading?"  
Ayumi wondered if she should tell Yoshiki, since she'd only just met him, and even though he had got her out of potential trouble, he could still be any old creep.  
"Uh, just an interview for a place at The Creative art collage threw stops away. You?"  
"I wasn't planning on getting this train 'till I saw you, but I suppose I could busk a bit in the town centre."  
It was only then that Ayumi noticed the large black guitar case slung over his shoulder.  
"Huh. I presume your my age?"  
"I'm 17 if that helps Shinozaki?"  
"Me too, but shouldn't you be at school at your age still?"  
"Dropped out," he admitted with a shrug "It wasn't worth my time since I wasn't good at anything. Musics more my thing, you know."  
"I suppose that's your choice."  
Ayumi didn't really approve of giving up or dropping out, she believed even if it was hard or boring you should persevere no matter what, to achieve your goal. Maybe Yoshiki just wasn't committed enough to keep going with school.  
"You look like the studious type though!" he pointed out, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.  
"So what if I am," she said back defensively "I just want to do well in life."  
Yoshiki's eyes hardened, making Ayumi instantly regret her strong words. How cruel of her to insult someone she had just met.  
"I'm so sorry! I don't mean you, your doing great following what you love, sometimes I'm a bit blunt with my words..."  
He chuckled, making her blush ever so slightly in her pale cheeks. She found it so annoying when she blushed, because it was an automatic thing that gave the wrong impression to people.  
"I'm not offended, I do know I'm not doing the best I could in life!"  
"Then why not go back to school? Kisaragi high is really great and I bet there's a music course you'd like."  
"Is that your school?"  
"Yep."  
"I'd never pass the entrance class, I hate to admit it but I'm not an academic in the slightest."  
"So? You just need to try your best and if you don't get in, you can always try another school!" she said encouragingly, with passionate eyes. It was her duty to persuade people to get educated, and it really gave her pleasure doing so.  
"I'll think about it..."  
"Good."  
A few quiet moments later, the speaker started buzzing, alerting all the travelling passengers to look at the screen.  
"Stop 3, Kyato Square. Please remember all luggage before you leave promptly. That's Stop 3, Kyato Square. Thank you!"  
"Shinozaki," Yoshiki started, climbing out of his seat. "Looks like this is our stop."  
"Yep!" she replied with a nod, heading out behind him. He stopped at the platform and turned to her with a grin.  
"Well, it was nice meeting you!" he said, holding out his hand for her to shake. She took it politely, surprised at how rough the inside of his palm felt. Yoshiki turned away, guitar bag swinging in the breeze, as Ayumi looked down at her hand. Whilst he had been shaking her hand, he had pressed a small crumpled piece of notepaper into her hand. She unfolded it curiously, smiling at the contents. It was his name and number, written with scrawled, untidy handwriting. As she left the quite quiet platform, she had a feeling that she'd be seeing a lot more of her rescuer and new friend. Glancing at her watch, she scurried up the stairs and out onto the street. It was quarter past four; she had fifteen minutes to find the collage, which wasn't a worry since there were plenty of bright signs showing the way. Ayumi couldn't help feeling that the interview would go well, and maybe she'd pass after all!  
It was all a matter if time.

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	2. Chapter 2 - The Interview!

**You guys wanted another chapter, and here it is! I'm so glad it went down so well yesterday I wasn't too sure if I would be that good.**

**P.s I'm going to Egypt tomorrow for ten days, but there is wifi, so I should be able to upload. Sorry if it's not a fixed time!**

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Chapter two.

The building was large, with big marble podiums outside it, making it look very grand for just an art school. If she hadn't been specially recommended for it, there was no way she was confident enough to the the interview by herself with no handicap. She wouldn't of stood a chance. Drawing a deep breath, she entered the building, feeling a gush of warm air surround her from the air heaters above the door way. As she glanced around, she saw various students, clutching large project cases like her own, and chatting amongst themselves.

It was a Friday, so most of them would be going early to go out with friends like every other student, and it was relatively quiet in Ayumi's opinion. That might of put her off one day, but it gave her enough space to think everything through. The receptionist beckoned her forward friendlily, presuming that she had come for the interview for a place next year, as she was right as usual,  
"Here for the interview?" she asked, getting out a register that was attached to a cork clipboard.  
"Yes that's right. I'm not late am I?" she replied, feeling nervous.  
"No, in fact your one of the first! Can I get your name and high school please?"  
"Ayumi Shinozaki, Kisaragi high."  
"Ooh," commented the receptionist, crossing off her name which was towards the bottom of the alphabetical list. "You've been specially recommended?"  
"Uh, yeah..."  
"Wow, we've only had two others who have skipped the initial application process, so you must be good!"  
"Thanks. May I ask one more thing?"  
"Sure think Shinozaki-San, go ahead."  
"How many places are there available?"  
"Well, for the specific subject chosen, there are just under thirty places available. We're quite exclusive as you know."  
"Right, and what about applicants?"  
"There have been three interview sessions already to day. Looking on my list there's about 60 applicants..."  
"That's a lot!"  
"Illustration is very popular this year."  
"Oh...thanks."  
"No problem. Up that first flight of stairs to the interview corridor on your left, is the waiting room. You'll have a chance to mingle and practice there until your name is called. Good luck!"  
"Thanks."  
Ayumi walked steadily up the stairs, wondering what type of people had applied for it and what they were like. She decided maybe she should make a few acquaintances before she was interviewed, to ensure she had a few friends if she managed to get in, which she was hopeful of. The waiting room was relatively small, with three rows of magenta chairs all facing each other, some already occupied by people. She sat down hurriedly next to a nice looking blonde girl, who was also wielding a large project case in her hands.  
"Hiya..." Ayumi said as she scurried into the seat, the girl smiling in return.  
"Hello, are you here for the places too?"  
"Yes..."  
"Great, I may as well introduce myself then. Sakura Kasako, from St Guci high." the girl said, beaming broadly.  
"Uh, Ayumi Shinozaki. You'll be going before me then!"  
"That's right!" she replied with a shudder. "I may look confident, but I am trying really hard not to stress out!"  
"Fake it till you make it!" insisted Ayumi, making the girl laugh.  
"Defiantly. That's a rule I live by!"  
"So what made you want to take up illustration?"  
"Oh...Well I've always loved art, especially drawing my visions of poems in particular. My brothers a children's author, and if I get some training he says I can illustrate his books!"  
"That's great. I wish my reasons were as inspired."  
"Hmm?"  
"I just want to be an illustrator really. It's always been my dream!  
"Sakura Kasako?" called out a man in a black suit, entering the room.  
"Uh, yeah that's me!" Sakura replied as she hastily got out of her seat, momentarily waving to Ayumi as she followed the towering man towards the interview room. The seats were now getting filled up, until a new person came and sat down where Sakura was earlier. Ayumi thought about greeting her, but she looked so snobby and pretentious that she didn't bother. Her rich brown hair was scraped into a fancy braided bun, making her look pretty, well, she would of been if she hadn't been wearing the most sour sneer on her face. The girl turned to Ayumi, quickly summing up her appearance. She didn't look that cool but she didn't look dorky either.  
"It's awfully stuffy in here..." the posh girl commented, turning her nose up at the poor air conditioning that was due to be fixed. "Shouldn't they care more about our comfort?"  
"We're not even in this school yet you know!"  
"So? I need the best in order to stay focused and inspirational...!"  
Ayumi shook her head, not liking the look of the girl at all. The girl frowned in return, pursing her bright pink lips.  
"Anyway, I presumed you know who I am?"  
"No clue."  
"Humph. I'll have you know that I've actually been specially recommended! My name is Haruka Tsuji."  
"So what, I've been recommended too!"  
"Huh!?"  
The man dressed in black appeared again, with a group of people behind him, one of them was Sakura. She waved at Ayumi happily, and Ayumi returned the gesture hoping her new friend had done well on the interview.  
"Ayumi Shinozaki?"  
Ayumi flinched at the call of her name, but got up bravely nonetheless and followed the man into a large boardroom right at the end of the corridor, concealed cleverly.  
"You'll first fill in this sheet please, just a questionnaire. Miki Inaru is still being interviewed." The man told her, pointing to a table which had several pieces of paper strewn all over it, with various pens and pencils by them. She picked up the pen, her hand shaking ever so slightly, and wrote her name neatly at the top before quickly running through the questions. They were very open as she had imagined them to be, most along the lines of 'what are your talents?' , 'why do you want to work in illustration?' and others similar to that. She sped through quite easily, only having to stop and think at the last question.

Why do you think you deserve this place?

Ayumi thought she'd get it straight away, but she actually found herself wondering why she deserved to get a place over thirty others. Why? She didn't have some reason behind it like Sakura did, no sob story or tale of inspiration. However she didn't want to leave it place, so quickly scribbled something down she hoped would convince the people who decided who got the place. As she handed the sheet back to the man, a short pigtailed girl rushed out of the interview room, shaking with a wobbly walk. The man nodded at Ayumi to go in, so she withdrew her last nervous breath and pushed the large wooden door open. The first thing she saw was a long glass table, with three serious looking men and woman sat on onside of it.  
"Hello, your Shinozaki I presume?" said the middle one in a deep voice, tapping the table for her to sit down. She nose, sliding onto the jet black, comfortable chair, placing her project case on the table beside her.  
"Well, it's good to meet you. My names Juro Yamameti, this is Chou Saeniko and Hoshi Miamoto. We're in charge of deciding who gets the the places."  
"Right."  
"So the first question we'd like to ask you is about you grades," began the woman, presumably Hoshi with a smile. "It's not fully relevant to the subject but it's just standard procedure since you didn't fill in the forms."  
"I got A's in all my subjects."  
"Okay."  
There was a slight pause as the woman wrote it down in a large black notebook, so the man on the right asked her another question.  
"What made you choose illustration over other art subjects?"  
"Well...I really enjoy reading and picturing the scenes in my mind, so I thought it would be great for me to physically do it, and combined with my love of art I thought it was perfect."  
"Right..."  
"Shinozaki, there's been a very high standard of work this year, especially from the girls. I hope you've bought the piece of work requested as well as other multi media samples?"  
"Yes of course."  
"Please get out the assigned piece."  
Ayumi rummaged in her folder for the piece they had requested. They were given a simple paragraph to 'transform into picture' and title if accordingly. She had spent a long time on her piece, with Hinoe encouraging her determinedly when ever she did struggle.  
"Oh, here it is."  
She handed it carefully to the man, who showed it to the other interviewing her. They exchanged unreadable glances and talked quietly amongst themselves, pointing at the work in a scrutinising fashion.  
"A very interesting take on it. And can we just look through your other samples too?"  
Ayumi nodded, passing the folder to them, her arms shaking slightly out of nervousness. They had only asked a few questions so far but already she was feeling anxious that she was saying everything wrong. The interviewers took awhile to finish, the two men talking seriously together whilst the woman hurriedly wrote things down after they had finished commenting.  
"Okay, good good. So, you've been specially recommended by one of our tutors? How did that happen?"  
Ayumi froze in her seat. How was she supposed to say that it had been her teacher related to the tutor, and had convinced them to give her the recommendation. But wouldn't they know that already? Maybe this was a test for her honesty, but it was really scaring her.  
"My...teacher knew the tutor and persuaded him to...uh, give me the recommendation..."  
"Oh?"  
"But I would of never got it if I wasn't good enough in the first place! I really love art and illustration, and I really, really want and need this place to achieve my long term dream! I've told myself never to give up when I've been rejected, and that makes me worthy of a place!"  
The interviewers looked slightly taken aback by her outburst, and the man in the middle raised his eye brows.  
"Well, you save me asking another question! Hoshi, did you get that?"  
The woman nodded, again writing in the book.

"It's safe to say you've done very well today Shinozaki. You may leave, and you will get the results in two weeks time."  
"Thanks!" she said, a relieved tone in her voice.  
Why did she have to wait?

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	3. Chapter 3 - Park Life

Modem girl

Chapter 3

i am sorry for the delay, on holiday with awful wifi.

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It was about a week after the interview, and the results hadn't been determined yet, so Ayumi had nothing to do but mooch around at home since school had given her a week off. Most students would of loved the break but Ayumi was if anything, slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be able to use the resources in school to study. All of her friends had insisted she was mad thinking that, the day that their teacher told her that she would be getting time off, and tried to tell her she deserved the break after working really hard for the set piece and the actual interview. She was the type of person who pushed herself past the limits, and got bored when she had nothing to work for or achieve. Sometimes that backfired, but Ayumi was very good at blocking out pain and stress, and she'd just drift away into her own little world to forget herself, just like that.

"You deserve it for working so hard Shinozaki!" laughed Mayu, as she and her five friends walked home.

"Yeah, I'm well jelly! No school for a whole week!" Seiko added, linking arms with Naomi.

"Jelly?" commented Ayumi. "Is that some more Seiko-S-Language?"

"Yup. Morishige, how long do we have till we leave?""

"Why do you ask me?"

"Your the organised one..." said Satoshi, making Morishige slightly uncomfortable.

"I suppose. One more term, since were going to be seniors soon."

Seiko and Satoshi groaned in unison, neither of them loved school and had thought time would of gone quicker then it initially had.

"Cheer up guys! We can call each other Senpai, right Shig-nii?"

"Right."

"Nakashima-Senpai," sniggered Seiko bumping into her best friend. "Sounds dead posh!"

"Not really Seiko..."

"Oh yes, it definingly fits!"

"Seiko..."

"Guys, does it matter what Senpai sounds like added to your name?"

"Of course, it effects all our futures!"

"How?"

"What!?"

"Nakashima-Senpai..."

"Ugh."

Ping!

"Who's phone was that?" asked Satoshi, checking that it wasn't his own.

"Not mine."

"My phone makes a louder noise then that."

"Nope."

"Shinozaki?"

"Yup, it seems that I've got a text guys!" Ayumi said excitedly, since she rarely texted anyone, unlike Seiko who spent a lot of time stalking Naomi online, whenever she felt like it.

"Is it your results?" inquired Naomi leaning over her shoulder, only to be brushed away quite rudely by her.

"They obviously wouldn't send it by text Nakashima," snapped Ayumi, drawing her phone closer to her, imedietly recognising the number with a blush.

"Geez, sorry..."

An awkward silence fell between the friends as Ayumi read her text, who was from, you guessed it, the blonde boy who she had met in the train station. Once she looked up, she realised she had been a bit hard on Naomi, and told herself sternly to apoligise.

"Sorry," she said, making everyone feel relived. "I shouldn't of been like that..."

"It's okay!" Naomi quickly replied, happy to have sorted the matter with out a fuss. "I know your stressed still from the interview, I know I was when I applied for the nursing collage."

"I guess..." Ayumi agreed, as Mayu and Morishige turned a corner to get to their various homes with a quick goodbye wave. "Maybe your right, I should take this trip!"

"There we go Shinozaki!" smiled Satoshi whilst patting her on the back, making her blush the deepest shade of pink. Naomi noticed and was jealous but decided to not say anything to prevent more conflict. There was no need to start a cat fight, especially at that time of day.

"Er, I have to turn this way guys." announced Seiko, pointing to another crossroad further on. She looked quite uncomfortable by Seiko standards.

"Me to actually!"

"Alright, see you girls tomorrow!" Satoshi waved them off with a grin, leaving himself with the small class rep. He liked her, but didn't consider her as good as a friend then Naomi, where as Ayumi had always had a large crush on the bubbly boy ever since high school. She desperately wanted to say something to look cool, but before she knew it, Satoshi had to go an opposite direction to her, and she was alone. It was so hard to get his attention, he was always talking to Naomi with his big smile, or to Seiko, and was always texting his mates from outside of school. Apart from the odd line or to, him addressing Ayumi was almost minimal, Sighing, she scanned through the text again, making her feel warm and fuzzy inside. She didn't know exactly why though.

/

To: Ayumi From: Yoshiki

Hey how are you doing? Sorry I didn't reply to your text I ran out of credit. Typical. -.-

I've been busking in the park not too far from your school, and I'm done now, and I'd actually like to talk to you about something. :3

Yosh :)

/

To: Yoshiki From: Ayumi

Ok I'll be there soon, wait for me xx

/

Ayumi hadn't had a chance to reply yet, so she quickly wrote a short reply with two kisses at the end, you know, casual. As she strolled along the pavement towards the park, she wondered what Yoshiki wanted to talk to her about, and what was so important that he'd say it in person. A thousand possibilities flashed by like cogs in her brain, some making her blush, some not so much. He was definitely a mysterious character, and had hold her little about himself apart from he was a delinquent, he liked music and he was living alone. He must be lonely all by himself, she thought to herself, it will be good to give him some company. Sure enough after crossing roads several times, Ayumi had arrived at the grassy park, spotting Yoshiki straight away in the crowd of wondering people. He was easy to see with his bleach blonde hair and trademark guitar over his shoulder. As she approached him with a wave, she noticed he was wearing similar clothes to the ones on the train, a loose shirt unbuttoned at the top, jeans, and a ripped demin jacket. He was completely different to Satoshi, who was a good boy, popular with everyone and always getting good report cads without being a suck up. You'd think that that was Ayumi's type anyway.

"Hey Shinozaki!" he greeted her with a grin. "I wasn't sure whether you were coming!"

"Haha...' she said, smiling back at him. "Of course I've come. What else did I have to do?" She swallowed, thinking that maybe he'd be hurt her comment, but he didn't look that bothered.

"Uh, I'm sorry..."

"S'ok. I'm used to people acting that way around me, you know."

"Sorry."

"Forget it. Im just the type of person people drop then pick up when they need me, you know."

"Sorry!"

"Stop apologising!"

"Sorry..."

He tutted, walking over to a vending machine and slotting some money into it.

2 Cokes selected

Pay 200¥

It was true, he was used to being abandoned, used, neglected, all that rubbish. He had developed thick skin from his days on the streets, which was probably what gave him his slightly rough nature towards potential enemies, who was everyone he didn't know well, of course.

"Wanna coke?" he offered, getting himself one with a clunk at the bottom of the machine

"Sure."

"Okay, it's on me, don't mention it."

Yoshiki bought the two cool coke cans and passed one to Ayumi, which she accepted gratefully, even though she rarely drank caffeinated drinks. It made her feel too conscious, especially when she was doing spirit work in particular, so she usually stuck to fruit juice, though that sounds quite boring.

"So," she began starting a conversation. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

Yoshiki looked like he was about to blush, but he smoothly covered it up with a lazy grin. "Well?"

He looked straight at her eyes, making her feel all weird like she was the only person standing in the park, even though there were loads of people around. She reckoned his steely eyes had that effect on a lot of teenage girls though. He hesitated, as if mulling over his choice, of words, but seems to give up and turn away. After a few silent moments, he turned to her, a determined look on his usually calm and emotionless face.

"Y'know, the things you said to me on the train... It really made me think?"

"About what?" she encouraged him softly. She had a feeling she knew what was about to come next, and felt her heard beating unnaturally fast, even quicker then when Satoshi patted her on the back or sent a warm smile just in her direction. She blushed, telling herself not to be stupid, but it just felt like any teenaged rom com, where the boy was about to confess to the pretty girl he'd just met. Except she didn't consider herself pretty, and he wasn't about to confess. What he really said was completely unexpected.

"...About my life choices and really serious stuff. And with your help, maybe I can pass the entrance exam and get into Kisiragi High?"

She was completely taken aback by this, and couldn't help but let out a small laugh even though she tried not to. Yoshiki turned away, obviously upset, with a hurt look in his steely grey-blue eyes.

"Huh, I thought you'd laugh...no one takes me seriously, even you Shinozaki, who I thought was different..."

Ayumi grabbed the cuff of the sleeve of his shirt, and pulled him back, surprising both him and herself.

"I wasn't laughing at you!"

"Oh yeah?"

"I'm really pleased that I actually convinced you to get an education, even if it's only for half a year, it will still be worth it!"

"Huh?"

"What I'm trying to say is that I'm happy because I've influenced someone to get an education! That's what I've always wanted to do!"

"So you'll help me?"

"Of course!"

He chuckled, turning to her with that same, lazy grin on his face, making her melt slightly inside. She still wasn't sure why. Well, he was insanely attractive for one point, but her sights were set on Satoshi right? And she barely even knew Yoshiki that well. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but dismissed it by sipping his coke silently. Ping! Ayumi picked up her phone, and realised that she hadn't told Hinoe that she was meeting Yoshiki, and she'd probably want her home pretty soon.

/

To: Ayumi From: Hinoe

Shift it Ayumi, dads got a client coming for a business dinner. At Five! Hurry up!

/

To: Hinoe From: Ayumi

Soz coming now

/

"Time to go?" he asked, glancing at her smart phone strangely understandably.

"Yeah sorry, I would of loved to have spent a bit more time with you!" She blurted out, blushing slightly.

"Ha, maybe we can go out sometime, or hang out at mine if you want..." He suggested casually, not fully looking at her in the eyes.

"I'd like that a lot Kishi...Yoshiki."

"Good. See ya around!"

Yoshiki looked like he was about to leave, but something made him turn back and walk very close to her. She was breathless, wondering what on earth was doing. Again he seemed to hesitate, but he smiled, tossling her blue black hair before strolling away silently with his hands in his pockets...and the same lazy grin.

What was up with that boy? Ugh, boys, they were so confusing! They made you figure out what they meant by their vague actions, and never explained it, expecting you to do all the thinking. Who was she to say anyway...


	4. Chapter 4 - Messages

Modern Girl chapter 4

Yo yo yo! 'Sup guys another chapter coming your way soon, cos I got up at 6:30 and got wifi in the wifi bar at half seven! Woohoo. Sorry I'm not very consistent on my schedule, well, after all I am on holiday.

Sometimes the smallest of characters can make the biggest changes, in fiction and in life. Remember that, readers x

Ayumi was hauled up in her room by herself, flicking through a magazine that was worthless to her as she scrolled down the feed on her mobile. One more day, she told herself anxiously, one more day and you get the results. Her future would be decided, Sakura's too, and that posh girl who had been a big rude. It was astonishing how her career depended on this one place, and she had a 50/50 chance of getting in. It was the last day of her break, which she had not really enjoyed since all her friends had been spending time together in school. However, sometimes Mayu had called for her on the way home, and Seiko occasionally, and actually, even Naomi came once. Although she was friends with the girl, Ayumi didn't particularly like her since, she hated to admit it, but she thought Satoshi had a crush of her, and that was never good. There was often tension between the two, whenever Satoshi was not around, but when he was, they acted like the best of friends just because it seemed to make Satoshi happy that they weren't going to argue. She was about to click like on Naomi's photo, when the whole picture came into view. It was her, Seiko and Mayu smiling, each holding ice creams outside Ayumi's very favourite ice cream parlour taken probably just now or earlier to day...Without her. Ayumi sighed, knowing that it was her own fault that she wasn't that sought out for for social occasions. She spent so much time studying at home that no one bothered to come for her, which she pretended she didn't mind, but in all reality it did get a bit lonely all by herself with no one to talk to. Deciding not to like the picture, she instead read the comments, which were all cheery, especially Satoshi's. She was about to give up on her barely responding phone when it buzzed, indicating she had received a text message. It wasn't from Mayu, Satoshi or any of her friends. The number wasn't even Yoshiki's either. It was an 'unknown number'.

/

To: Ayumi From: unknown sender.

Heya it's me from the interview! Found your number some how :)

/

Presuming it was Sakura, Ayumi filled in the contact information and texted straight back.

/

To: Sakura From: Ayumi

Hi Sakura! How's it going? I'm super nervous about the results tomorrow!

/

To: Ayumi From: Sakura

Yup of course it's Sakura. I'm nervous too, I hope I get through...

/

To: Sakura From: Ayumi

Of course you will! Your art is really good.

/

To: Ayumi From: Sakura

Sorry, gtg, see you soon.

/

Ayumi sighed as she turned her phone off, glad she had reconnected with the friend that she had made earlier last week. At least she knew she was liked by at least one person...

Thinking about that, Ayumi remembered that she had promised Yoshiki via text to get some revision booklets from school; that was actually easy since she had asked Mayu if she could do puppy eyes on the ridiculous p.e teacher who would almost definitely give her the key to the store rooms where she had got them, and had handed them to Ayumi yesterday, Also, he had given her his address so she could 'drop them off' but Ayumi presumed he wasn't the most clever type so had packed her pencil case just in case he asked her to stay for a bit to help him study. Checking his address, she told her sister she was visiting a friend to study, which she didn't do that often actually, but nevertheless Hinoe gave her permission as long as she was back by 5, which was well within Ayumi's planned curfew anyway.

Yoshiki's flat was not that far away from her own four bedroom house, in a part of town that was a little rough, understandably for Yoshiki's current status anyway. He must work, Ayumi told herself, he can not get all his money from just busking although with the attention he got from girls, he probably made more then your average busker. Not wanting to think about she turned the corner of Yoshiki's street, stopping short at a small block of flats. He had said he was the first door on the second floor, so Ayumi walked briskly up the dull grey stairs with the booklets wedged under her arm, before rapping sharply on the door, marked; No6. It wasn't long before he opened the door, the same old lazy grin on his face again, although his eyes had a tinge of seriousness in them.

"Did you get the books?" he asked, stepping aside so she could walk in.

"Of course, three actually. And pencils."

"Alright, you can come in now."

"Thanks."

She walked into the main room, which was pleasant enough with a small but tidy kitchen and a cosy living room. There was a large couch slumped in the middle of it, as well as a tv and various video consoles in a large box. There was a small table with only two chairs,, which didn't surprise her since he lived alone, of course, unlike her who lived happily with her sister and parents. She wondered if Yoshiki had any siblings, but her questions were answered by something that used to be a family photo, apart from the fact his parents faces were scribbled out and a smaller girl was sat beside her. Yoshiki noticed she seemed to be looking around, and sincerely hoped she wasn't disappointed by her surroundings.

"Uh," he said sheepishly, a hand on his head. 'I know it's not much, but, it's the most I could afford."

"I think it's great!" she replied kindly, surprising herself as she put the three basic books on the table in the middle of the room. "I'd prefer if we get started straight away with no fuss. I've booked you in for your exam in a week and a half so you better start studying."

"That's ages away..." Groaned Yoshiki. "Can't i do last minute cramming?"

"I don't know what exams you've done, but I think we both know your going to work hard to pass. There are three sections, Maths, Science and Literature."

"Right!"

"What are your best subjects Yoshiki?" she questioned, looking at him like a teacher would to a pupil.

"Music," he said with a snigger. "Obviously."

"Academically speaking."

"Alright, enough with the long words. I can't stand literature and science is boring. Even maths isn't particularly fun but it's my best."

"And your grades?"

"Uh...C's? Geeez Ayumi..."

"Do you want to get in or not?" she said quite frankly, flopping down on his sofa with a note book and a pen. "If you do, you need B's."

"Your just going to have to train me up then, Shinozaki..."

"Yes, that is exactly what I will do!" She declared, starting to scribble furiously on a blank piece of paper. Yoshiki peered over her shoulder, reading her neat handwriting, which was perfectly written in some sort of chart.

"Is that... A Rota?" he inquired, squinting hard. The title read, revision timetable.

"Yes actually. It shows how often you study for how long and when I am available to help you doing it. You have to stick with it, no slacking."

"Ok, can do. Probably."

"Alright," she said, handing her the maths revision book and a note book for himself. "Start with page...12, mixed sums and only move onto the next page when you are finished, Okay?"

"Yes, Miss Shinozaki."

Obediently, Yoshiki did the sums, with not much difficulty, although when Ayumi came to Check, she realised his multiplication method was long and easy to mess up, so she showed him a quicker and easier way to work them out. Yoshiki hurriedly did both pages, though groaning all the way through because he was bored out of his mind.

"Literature next."

"Gimme a break!" Insisted Yoshiki, after Ayumi had forced the book into his hands. "Talking about breaks, when to I get one?"

"At 5. Okay?"

"Uh..."

Yoshiki looked at her serious, sapphire eyes, making her blush slightly like all the times before when he gazed at her that strangely admiring way. He was about to walk a bit closer to her, his lips parted slightly, but as steered aside by a stubborn Ayumi. No distractions!

"Is this what you do for fun?" he half asked, half moaned, slamming the untidy yet finished work on the table.

"Yes actually," she snapped, getting up and grabbing the book labelled: Physics. "It's almost half four already so I have to go soon."

"Aw, don't go..." He begged, getting up also. "How will I study?"

"Stick to the rota. And think of your reward!"

Ayumi rushed out the door with a toss if her pigs tails, only carrying her pencil case out of the flat. She didn't really want to leave since she knew Yoshiki would struggle by himself, however she just felt it wasn't right for her to stay tv at long, and her parents and Hinoe always told her off if she was a minute late so she better set of even just a but earlier. Yoshiki was left with a busy rota, but a big, and hopefully achievable reward.

"Shinozaki," he mused quietly. "I'm thinking I've got my reward already."

Damn Yoshiki, steady on there boy!

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	5. Chapter 5 - Results Part l

**Modern girl chapter 5**

**'sup people?**

**texting sure is popular in this chapter.**

* * *

It was an early Saturday morning, the day Ayumi knew she'd be getting the results, when she heard her phone ping with a text. Yawning, she fumbled around on the floor for her phone, eventually finding it and bringing it up to where she was lying down. She was getting a lot of texts recently, maybe she was going to get popular like Satoshi or Seiko! That would make everyone notice her more, instead if them going places without her or arguing with her, cough, cough, Naomi. Clicking on the text message, she realised it was from yet another unknown number.

/

From: Unknown sender.

Bitch, there's no way your getting a specially recommended place, I am. Loser!111!1

/

Her heart sank with sadness and disbelief at the text. Who could of been mean enough to send that text to her, especially on results day? She would usually jump to the conclusion it was Naomi being spiteful because of how Satoshi behaved around Ayumi on her last day before the break. But Naomi never swore, plus this was an unknown number and they also mention the specially recommended place. It was true, Ayumi was going for the scholarship, but she didn't want to get her hopes up so she had told herself it was ok if she had to play like everyone else. Suddenly, as she thought about the people there for the interview, she realised it had to be that snooty girl who complained all the time. She had been so boring and rude that Ayumi had already forgotten her name, which was a thing she did rarely since she had an abnormally good memory for her age. Sensibly, she deleted the message and number, hoping she would be bored and not bother her again. At least she didn't react. Ping! Another text? Geez, she thought, now she knew why celebrities never answer messages because they get so freaking many! Though she wasn't a celebrity, of course.

/

To: Ayumi From: Sakura

Eep, my results have arrived! I don't want to look at them here with my brother nosing around. Can I, perhaps come over?

/

To: Sakura From: Ayumi

Sure, any requests at all?

-With one attachment

/

Smiling, Ayumi texted her reply with her address attached to it. Her parents were out on a business trip and Hinoe had gone to do a private spirit session at some body's house so it would be fine for her to come over for a bit.

/

To Ayumi: From: Sakura

Windows open please, I might hyperventilate or something. Lol.

/

She quickly got up, dressed and ready, hoping she looked as presentable as when Sakura last saw her. After around half an hour, she heard a knocking at her door and excitedly opened it, sporting a huge smile. However that quickly vanished and was replaced by a nervous sign when she saw it was in fact the postman with her results. She thanked the post man with a slight smirk and shoved the bundle of letters in the hall. They were mostly for her parents but one stuck out, a brown parcel thick with forms and letters, which were most definitely her results. She was excited, of course, but at the same time, dreading it, for she might of not even got in, their was a half chance though. Noting that Sakura was over ten minutes late, she texted her briefly.

/

To: Sakura From: Ayumi

Mine have arrived now, are you still coming?

/

Her phone instantly bleeped the same annoying tone. She really needed to change that.

/

To: Ayumi From: Sakura

Sorry, but my cousins just came over without notice with my aunt and uncle so I can't come over. So sorry!"

/w

To: Sakura From: Ayumi.

No prob. Let me know what your get.

/

Ayumi shut the front door with a sigh, the heavy package in her hand glaring at her fiercely as if saying! open me! So with a nervous smile on her lips, she walked back into the living room to open the package. She was kind of relived that no one was around to see her reaction to it, even Sakura who she was looking forward to seeing the results with, but it didn't really bother her that much. Family comes before friends. Ripping the parcel open, she pulled out several sheets of paper, which were thick with writing all over them. One she recognised to be the notes the woman had taken at the interview, the others seemed like forms and stuff so she read the notes first. It had all her basic details written in a box at the top with neat handwriting, and larger boxes with some of the question the men had asked her at the interview. Instantly her eyes scanned for the adjectives, since she cared greatly what other people thought about her or described her as. 'Very keen' ; 'Clearly controlled and motivated' ; 'Studious' and 'Nervous' were just a few of the words the woman had hurriedly written down. The lady hadn't written down the answers Ayumi had said to the questions as she had expected, but instead had written down comments on the answers. The last box was particularly long; as Ayumi had answered it very throughly as she has remembered. Cringing, she turned it over, onto a page that simply states 'Additional Comments.' They all said how 'dedicated' she was with her "creative work' but needed more 'confidence' and 'refinement'. Ayumi had no idea what they meant; she was always confident around people but, she supposed, this was a nervous time her. By refinement, they most likely meant that she needed to rush less or something like that, she didn't really know for herself.

Now was the moment of truth. Would she get the scholarship? Would she even get a place at all? The answer was just moments away...

'Ayumi Shinozaki has been accepted a place for the Illustration course starting in the next business/school year. Signed, Chou Ito, chairman of the illustration department.'

A place. Did that mean she hadn't gotten the special recommendation? Her heart thudded loudly in her chest as she re read all of the sheets over and over again. No special recommendation. No scholarship. Which was, fine, I mean she got the place and everything, but she hadn't been good enough for the scholarship. Her parents would have to pay though, but Ayumi hoped that they wouldn't mind that much. After all, she was still doing the course and it meant no difference in the stuff that she'd be studying. Trying not to feel disappointed, Ayumi texted Sakura her results, before quickly changing the ringtone so it wouldn't make her jump every time it went off. No reply came soon, so Ayumi had to presume that she was busy with her family at home still. Flicking through her news feed, she got yet another text. Geez, what was it with these people and their flipping texts? But it wasn't from Sakura as she hoped. It was from 'the' unknown sender.

/

To: Ayumi From: Unknown sender

Happy with your results? It's such a shame you didn't get a special recommendation!

/

To: Unknown receiver From: Ayumi

How do you even know about that anyway? And shut up because I'm glad I got in.

/

To: Ayumi From: Unknown Sender.

I'm not who you think I am! I'm waaaay more smart. I looked up your results on the files, of course. I've also got Sakura's results as well as Yuuto's and Shigeru's.

/

To: Unknown Sender From: Ayumi

Back off! I'm going to ignore you, your just wasting my precious time! And phone credit!

/

Ayumi threw her smart phone across the room in anger, annoyed how some one could treat her like that and put her down as if she was something stupid and small. Who was that anyway? It did sound a lot like the posh girl from the waiting room, but she wasn't too sure about tv that now. She didn't know her enough to have her number; yet she couldn't think of anyone else who wanted a place as badly as her and who knew about her ambitions. She wondered if she should report it, but to stop fuss happening with her parents, she instead blocked the number from her phone, making her realise that she should of done that before the person had sent the last few texts. Oh well, it was over now. Absentmindedly, her thoughts wondered to Yoshiki, and how he would, or should in his case, be studying chemistry right now. That's right, the studious girl had copied it for herself just so she could keep up on the stuff he was looking at everyday. She knew it was quite a big ask for the dequiliant boy, but she knew it would be worth the hard work and boringness so he could get into her school, Kisiragi. Wow, just imagine that! Not that he'd be staying long or anything, there was only one more term left, however despite that, she knew it would help him onto the right track again and get him a better job, if the plan worked out. After a few long minutes of thinking, she decided to get up and do something since she was bored, restless and desperate for some company. She hoped Yoshiki wouldn't be bothered if she came over, after all perhaps she could help him study a bit for the entrance exam. She had also done the entrance exam to get in and hadn't struggled on any parts of it although she wasn't the cleverest person in her class, that indeed was Naomi, unfortunately. But Ayumi believed she could teach more since she was far more studious, where as Naomi was a bit more carefree.

Ayumi ran up to her room to grab her bag, not expecting anything out of the ordinary. She took it hastily, shut the open window on second thought, then walked out of her room and downstairs, not noticing there was a piece of paper caught between the window and it's frame.

-You can block me forever, but I'll always be here-

* * *

**Whoa freaky! It looks like someone has it in for Ayumi...**

**This kind of reminds me of pride from Full Metal Alchemist,with the whole lurking in the shadows you know?**

**Remember the FFR!**

**follow fave and review if You liked it!**


	6. Chapter 6 - Flats&Flirts

**Modern girl chapter 6**

**guys I've gone 24 hours without sleep, going from plane to bus to car to train so as you can imagine I'm really tired! My schedule will be back tomorrow with a chapter every other day or every day if I can write quick enough. Love Ya!**

* * *

"You got your place! Ayumi, that's great!"

Yoshiki had been surprised at her sudden appearance but nonetheless pleased that she had come over. He had stuck to the timetable as promised, but had skived off all the three sessions of maths he should of done since he got Ayumi's serious revision rota. It wasn't that he just struggled with it, which in all fairness he did, but he also found it dull and annoyingly boring compared to the other subjects that weren't even much better. Ayumi had just told him that she had gotten a place for her course, which made her happy, so Yoshiki was also happy for some strange reason he couldn't figure out. Maybe something's were contagious, like a yawn or a laugh or something. It definitely just the fact that Ayumi had gotten the place, right?

"I know," she replied, flopping down on his couch with a nervous smile. "Shame I didn't get the special scholar ship..."

"Life's to short to dwell on that!" declared Yoshiki. "Your parents wouldn't of let you apply if they didn't want to pay for it right?"

"Right."

He came and sat next to her, all lazy grins and chit chat. She felt oddly comforted by his presence, but of course, didn't say anything about her conflicted feelings.

"So, why d'you come over?" He asked, making her blush slightly. Of course he wanted to know why she had unexpectedly turned up on his doorstep; she probably looked stupid.

"Erm, I just wanted to check you were studying for the exam," she bluffed, her blue eyes sliding away from his steely ones. "Your exam is next Friday you know?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm doing okay."

Ayumi got up and searched the room for his timetable and books, successfully finding them in a messy, unorganised heap, paper sheets scatters near it. Yoshiki gulped as she picked up the maths book and started flicking through the empty pages, her mouth drooping with the lack of work.

"Yoshiki?!"

"Sorry sorry, but I find maths hard and boring, so I-"

"You've missed out three study sessions!" Ayumi reminded him strictly. "I'm ashamed of you!"

Ayumi expected for him to look defeated or even hurt, however he raked a steady hand through his bleach blonde hair and chuckled, making Ayumi even more infuriated.

"That's the first time I've been lectured by a girl," he admitted with a grin. "Oh apart from my sister, who once told me off for skipping lunch for three days straight!"

"That's bad!"

"I know, girls can be so-"

"I mean you skipping lunch! You need a nutritious diet with three meals a day if you want to be as energised as possible for each day and especially for your exam."

"Right. But I only have to go to work though..."

"Lemme guess, a check out worker?" she questioned with a quirk of her eyebrow.

"No, actually, a music shop."

"Whatever. Get working!"

Reluctantly Yoshiki took the bare maths book from her outstretched arms, rolling his eyes and tutting. Ayumi shook her head, walking towards the kitchen and starting to route through the various draws and the fridge.

"I would help you," she called from the other room. "But I'm not that good at maths, I only got a B-, but my...friend, Naomi is much more clever, she'd be much more use to you."

"Oh really?" he said, not really listening to her. "What are the other people in our class like?"

"Don't get too cocky mister!" laughed Ayumi, retrieving a pot of noodles from the lowest cupboard and a few veggies from the colder section of Yoshiki's slightly grubby fridge. "Your not even in our class yet!"

A few silent moments passed as Ayumi heated up the noodles and vegetables and Yoshiki 'studied' in his maths book, when in reality he was doodling notes for a new melody that had popped into his head down the margin. He had no idea what Ayumi was doing but really didn't care since he enjoyed her company a lot. She was a sweet girl and although they hadn't known each other that long, Ayumi was starting to feel like a good, special friend, of which he honestly didn't have many.

"So this Naomi..." he called, picking up on her slightly bitter tone when she had mentioned her name. "Do you like her?"

Ayumi stiffened, reaching for two bowls that were stacked in one of the lightest draws.

"Well," she said, considering her words carefully. "She's my friend I suppose, and she's always a little bitter towards me whenever Satoshi's around."

"Satoshi?" Yoshiki repeated with a slight frown. "Mochida?"

"Yeah! How do you know him?"

"We've been mates for ages," he said briskly. "I knew he went to your school!"

"Well, Naomi doesn't appreciate it when Satoshi's around me. I think she's jealous."

"Of what? Your relationship?"

"Huh? No! We're not really like that, but I guess I kinda like him...but so does Naomi, and she's in the way!"

What was that sinking feeling in his chest he suddenly felt when she had just admitted her crush? He brushed it away, trying to stop the strange feeling of hurt showing on his face, but he couldn't control his eyes. He gave Ayumi a slow, sad eyed look before turning back to scribble down the margins. Ayumi was to thick skinned to notice, and went back to telling Yoshiki all about her classmates and how they'd all like his rebellious nature. Maybe. As she served up the small meal she had managed to put together, she wondered whether she should be getting his hopes up because after all he might not even make it through the exam. Getting rid of the thoughts, she walked back into the living from with two steaming plates, catching Yoshiki's eyes at the welcome sight of it.

"At least you've come to make up for it..." He mumbled, taking the plate from her hands.

"Sorry, what?"

"...Nothing, never mind."

"Okay."

They ate in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, more of a peaceful one, with both of them mulling over their individual thoughts and occasional troubles. Ayumi was cursing Naomi in her head; wishing that she didn't get in the way of her and Satoshi. He liked her surely, otherwise he wouldn't have been so nice to her last week. Yet he acted like that around Naomi all the time, and sometimes even the other girls. It wasn't fair! How could she get his attention now, especially with all the prettier girls practically lining up for him? She sighed suddenly, just as Yoshiki was doing so and their eyes met, a strange sizzling sensation between their eye contact. They stayed like that for no more than a few minutes, both staring intently at each other with mixed feelings, neither saying a word to each other. Ayumi could see Yoshiki's mouth forming a subtle 'o' as if quite shunned, she found herself doing the same until she was jerked out of the trance by a ping from her phone. Geez, she really needed another new ringtone. Her eyes slid away from his again as she looked at the text. Predictably it was from Sakura.

/

To: Ayumi From: Sakura

I got a place! Woo hoo!

/

She smiled as she read the joyful text. That meant her new friend was doing the course too, so she wouldn't a alone.

"Something happened?" asked Yoshiki, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Oh it's from my friend. Turns out she got a place too!"

"Oh, well that's good as well."

Ayumi picked up her stuff from the hall, apologising for disturbing him without announcing herself before she came. Yoshiki just laughed, saying she as free to come anytime as long as he wasn't on a work shift or anything like that. Finally she stood by the door and said goodbye, but Yoshiki grabbed on to her shoulder for a second and gazing at her beautiful sapphire eyes. Ayumi didn't even try to pull away, and that made him smile a small, secretive smile to himself.

"Has anyone told you how lovely your eyes are?"

Ayumi shook her head, totally breathless. She couldn't even reply. What was going on with her head recently? So instead she just smiled nervously and bolted out of the door, leaving Yoshiki alone in his flat, shaking his head with disbelief, but he was still grinning, his arched eyebrows relaxed...

* * *

Ayumi was leant against her locker, sighing as she remembered yesterday's visit to Yoshiki's. Why had she suddenly ran way like that; she must of looked like a spaz to him? She was sure he was going to...well, maybe she thought he was thinking about it, but he obviously wasn't. It was still a few days to go until the exam, so she hoped that he would be studying enough to pass the entrance exam.

"Hey Shinozaki!" Mayu and Morishige were also at their lockers collecting their books, both smiling as Mayu's shrill greeting pieced through Ayumi's thoughts.

"Oh, hi Suzomoto. Do you know where Mochida is?"

"Sure," she replied uncertainly, her smile turning nervous as Morishige hastily rolled his eyes with impatience. "He's over there, with Nakashima and Shinohara."

Ayumi pursed her lips and smiled in return, clutching her books in her hands and walking towards them. Satoshi was leant against his locker, her disheveled hair and chocolatey brown eyes making him look extremely dreamy to most of the girls who were giggling as they shuffled away to the classes. Naomi and Seiko were chatting happily to him, but he didn't seemed to be listening probably. As soon Naomi caught sight of Ayumi walking towards her, she nudged Satoshi and Seiko, and quickly pelted away, leaving Ayumi staring after them. Satoshi did glance back to through her a sympathetic look, but didn't struggle to break free from Naomi's grip. Why was she avoiding her? She knew she wasn't Naomi's favourite person in the world because of their shared love for Satoshi, but she didn't have to totally blank her. At least Satoshi didn't seem to be ignoring her, and that made her feel good inside. Suddenly, as she was about to enter the art room, she felt a sharp tug at her shoulder. Two girls were behind her; Ayumi recognised them to be some of the giggly girls who had been walking past Satoshi a few moments ago.

"Hey! Your Shinozaki aren't you?" asked one curiously, stepping in front of her with a pretty smile.

"Yes that's right. I'm also class rep of class 2-9, just saying."

The other girl snorted, but she received a warning look from her friend and shut up instantly.

"I'm not accusing you of anything Shinozak-San," she started, giving Ayumi a worried pain in her chest as she breathed. "But I just wanted to warm you there's been some...rumours going around about you recently."

Ayumi's heart sank. Were people being mean enough to talk about her behind her back, and is so, who started it anyway?

"It's mostly been about you and Nakashima and you having cat fights over Mochida-"

"We weren't cat fighting!"

The snorty girl rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"...And apparently you've been making rude remarks about her appearance too. I just wanted to tell you that, okay?"

Now that certainly wasn't true, Ayumi was actually jealous of Naomi's feminine curves, since her in her self was skinny and flat chested. But then, she could see all the more reason for her to lash out on Naomi.

"It's not true," he exclaimed angrily, walking into the art room. "You can tell everyone else that, and Nakashima can back me up on it."

The two girls exchanged worried and awkward glances, but Ayumi told herself she couldn't care less about it. Gossip comes as fast as it goes, Hinoe had once told her when she had come home crying whilst she had been in middle school when a girl had spread around that she was a dirty, homeless gypsy. She had the same feeling in her, of anxiety, nervousness and constantly feeling that someone was watching her. It was freaky. As she sat down in her desk, she glanced at Naomi, who was scribbling something down in her art book, a sly smile on her pink lips. That look...she must of seen the girls corner her. Ayumi was sure of it now, there was no other option. Naomi Nakashima, the smiley, intelligent and sensible girl from class 2-9 was spreading nasty rumours about her all around the school.

Ayumi Shinozaki wasn't one to stand for that.

* * *

**No Ayumi! It's not what it looks like...**


	7. Chapter 7 - I like you

**Modern girl chapter 7**

**FIIIIIINNNNNNNAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLYYYYYYY**

**I HOPE YOUR HAPPY!**

**Love Ya 3**

Ayumi was bright red, practically fuming as she stalked down the corridor, hatred in her usually so calm, clear and focused sapphire blue eyes. She couldn't ignore the hushed whispers and giggles coming from the other girls at the lockers, she would always catch a 'Shinozaki' or 'bitch' somewhere in the mix. No doubt about it, her and Naomi's supposed 'Cat Fight' (which in her oppinion never even happened) had spread all across the high school, maybe even reaching the ears of the teacher. Oh gosh, Ayumi thought worriedly to herself, that would be so awful! Her reputation would be stained with gossips...

But they would also know she fancied Satoshi! She had planned to tell him some day but not now and definitely not in that way! Ayumi was already imagining worst case scenarios' of Satoshi finding out and avoiding her forever! Ugh, how terrible would that be!

Trying to cool off, she entered the lunch hall, her head held high as people pointed and laughed at her. They were nothing to her, absolutely nothing at all! She spotted Seiko and Naomi in line for chips, a smug look on the latter face. That really confirmed her suspicions now; it had to be Naomi! Still frustrated she slipped into the middle of the salad queue next to Mayu who was happily chatting to a friend from drama club she had known for a while.

"Hi Suzomoto!" Ayumi chirped, like nothing was wrong.

"Uh, hey Shinozaki, you alright?" Mayu replied, a hint to concern in her usual cheerful tone.

"Of course," Ayumi chattered. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Mayu searched Ayumi's expression for a sign that she knew about the gossip behind her back. However the small girl was well practiced hiding her feelings from others, and swore by the words, 'fake it till you make it'.

"Erm well...people have been saying stuff behind..."

"I know," Ayumi cut her off unexpectedly. "I'm trying not to let Nakashima get to me."

"Huh?" Mayu said, scooping some salad onto her plate. "What made you think Nakashima-san did it?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ayumi explained, a bitter tone in her voice. "She doesn't like me because Satoshi's nice to me. She's just jealous!"

"I can't see why she is jealous..." mused Mayu, a small crease appearing in her forehead. "After all she does go-"

"Mayu!"

Morishige was waving next to the till's as Mayu paid for her food, smiling shyly at her from under his glasses.

"Shig-nii!" she called, rushing over to him. She looked behind her shoulder and smiled apologetically for the sudden stop to their conversation. Ayumi just shrugged and walked over to the table where Satoshi and Seiko were sitting; Naomi was still in line. No one spoke as she sat down opposite them but just exchanged mixed glances with each other, not making contact with the blue haired girl.

"Hi guys..." she mumbled as Naomi appeared behind her.

"Shinozaki." Acknowledged Seiko dully, waving at Naomi from far away. "Hi."

An awkward silence settled amongst them, making Satoshi out of all people feel very uncomfortable. Yes, he was aware of the alleged rumours spread but believed that neither Ayumi or Naomi had started them, and hadn't even mentioned it at all. Naomi sat next to Seiko, turning to whisper something that made her giggle. Ayumi just stared at her plate of now decidedly unappitising salad, hoping that at least some body else would pay attention to her existence.

"So," chirped up Satoshi, trying to lighten the mood. "How was your day Naomi, your quite...quiet."

Ayumi snorted but quickly covered it up with a forced cough, making Naomi's eyes narrow in her direction with suspicion. Quiet? Yeah right, though Ayumi, she couldn't help balbbing nonsense through that stupid mouth of hers.

"Good actually, thanks for asking though!"

"What about you Shinohara?"

"Im great I guess..."

"Shinozaki?"

As soon as Satoshi mentioned her name Seiko rolled her eyes as if it was some inside joke she had and Naomi put a smug smile on her lips.

"Actually," Ayumi replied with slight hesitation. "It hasn't been that great today?"  
"Oh really whats up?"

"Well someone," she said, putting great emphasis on the second word. "Spread false rumours about me all across the school."

"Oh really?" Naomi suddenly questioned, looking if anything, a little concerned. "I haven't heard them! Are you okay?"

Ayumi felt strange with Naomi's sudden change in attitude. Hadn't she been the one spreading the rumours in the first place? Maybe she was just faking it to look good in front of Satoshi! Yes, that was probably true.

"Rumors are nothing," dismissed Seiko with a chuckle. "People just want to stir something up because their jealous or have something against you!"

"Yeah," Ayumi said, locking eyes pointedly with Satoshi. "Their just jealous..."

If Ayumi caught her gesture, she didn't say anything, but turned a bit mute and didn't bother to add much more to the conversation. It was when Ayumi was about to leave the lunch hall when she over heard a conversation between Naomi and Seiko was they all poured into the corridor.

"Geez, you were a bit quiet back there!"

"Really? Or were you just extra loud?"

"Haha! Blame it on me then, thats just fine!"

The rest of it she had to strain to hear, but the expert eavsdropper managed to pick up some words, although a little blurry.

"I think...of your..."

"Seiko!" ...confession...go...with...!"

"...Shame,...liked...too!"

"Rumors...Suzomoto...she?"

"I Heard so...loved...couple!"

"Haha,...Shinozaki doesn't...me!"

"Too bad!"

That was all that she heard, but to her it definitely sounded an awful lot like gossip. They had mentioned both her and Mayu, for some reason, which made her really doubt Naomi had been truely sympathetic with her earlier. It was, as she had expected, just a cover up. But then again their was still what Mayu was about to tell her; did that have anything to do with the whole thing? She doubted that highly since Mayu didn't like conflict and rarely ever gossiped. Seiko and Naomi on the other hand...Well, she still had some digging to do.

The rest of the day flew by, with Ayumi having the same old lessons, which mind you, she did enjoy, and finally the end of school bell went and the pupils were free to go home. Ayumi decided it best not to walk with the rest of the gang, even though Seiko had offered, it would be for the best in case they were going to start another conflict. Instead she told them Hinoe was picking her up to go and buy some spiritual items, so Seiko just laughed, rolling her eyes and telling her she needed to 'get real' but didn't mock her. Seiko was more of a teaser; she never took things too seriously which was one of her best qualities by far even if she was opposite to Ayumi's.

She was just about to walk through the gates and out, when she spotted a tall blonde boy with a black guitar case slung over his shoulder, leaning up against a large tree with a careless grin on his face. As soon as he caught sight to her, he waved, and started walking towards her. Several girls pointed and gazed at him, rushing off in little groups, all blushing and giggling furiously. Ayumi as per normal, ignored them and greeted him with a small smile as they fell into step together.

"Why did you come here?" she asked, pushing through a trio of talkative girls who were staring lovingly at the back of Yoshiki's head.

"I wanted to check out the school..."

"Yeah right!"

"Sheesh...I Obviously came here to see you! No signs of your friends, huh?" Yoshiki admitted, his hands moving to his pockets as several girls swooned several feet away from him.

"I kind of thought i might see you here," she bluffed casually. What a nightmare it would of been if he had seen how she acted around Satoshi, he would surely see she crushed on him, and maybe even Satoshi would think she was his girlfriend! Groan!

"I could of met them though!" he said with a slight frown. "After all, they are going to me my classmates soon."

"That depends on your exam, when is it?"

"Two days..."

"Alright then, Mr Kishinuma, tell me, just how many math sessions you've done.!"

"Um, well..." he raked a hand through his hair as they turned the corner. "None."

Ayumi let out an exasperated sigh.

"Oh well...I suppose your writing...skills might get you through."

"Im hoping!"

The two walked side by side all the way to Ayumi's house, which was right on the other side of town but Yoshiki didn't seemed to be bothered. After all it was a lovely day, and he treasured Ayumi's company over anything else at the moment, so if she felt the same way it would be...well, just perfect!

"Erm, Shinozaki..." he said nervously as they turned down her road. "Theres been something i've been meaning to tell you for a while now, I know we haven't known each other long-"

"I've got a question too, but you can go first."

"No, you go on ahead!"

"No Yosh, you go first you asked me first!"

"Did you just call me Yosh?" he asked, bemused. Ayumi blushed as his grin became puzzled and she practically felt her heart skip a beat as he looked straight into her eyes. Oh no, she thought, this couldn't be happening...But she couldn't ignore it much longer, the feeling that had been confusing her ever since she had met the mysterious musical boy. She had a crush on Yoshiki Kishinuma, big style, and had only realised right now.

"I...I.."

He was fully gazing at her now, admiration in his eyes as he looked at her innocent blush. It was kind of obvious now that she returned his open affections, even maybe just a little bit. The brisk breeze blew leaves around their ankles in the silent moment, making Ayumi practically breathless in his presence. What was he going to do now?"

"Your funny, Shinozaki." he whispered, kissing her slowly on the forehead. "But thats why i like you."

**Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww**

**I really need a Yoshiki :3**

**If you find one please leave him in the review section. Thanks. xx**


	8. Chapter 8 - Yolo?

**Modern girl**

**im back, sorry it's been way too long hasn't it? I've been super busy with finishing bittersweet, which most of your know already...**

**but the good thing is, I'll be updating modern girl every other day from now! Since I've finished BS, and I'm not writing anything else at the moment, I'll be dedicating my time to this delayed fanfic.**

**enjoy xoxoxoxo**

* * *

'Block me, ignore me, whatever you want, your trying to escape...but you just cant'

Someone had posted that nasty message on Ayumi's Facebook wall. It was most likely that sick lowlife that had sent her those texts and left that creepy message on her bed. Ayumi was sure it was either Naomi, or that rude, snobby girl, Haruka something that had complained about the air conditioner in the waiting room for the interview at the art collage.

But thinking about how nice Naomi had been to her yesterday, and the doubtful tone in Mayu's voice when she had accused hr, she started to wonder whether she was just paranoid, and that Naomi was truly innocent. She flopped on her bed, phone in her hand. Why was there so much to think about?  
Also, that unexplained behaviour with Yoshiki...

"...that's why I like you..."

What was that all about? He had kissed her on the forehead after saying that, and practically a million fireworks set of in her heart, butterfly's swarming around her tummy. She was still trying to figure out if he had actually confessed, or was just doing it in a friend way. Boys were so confusing! She pressed delete on the message, and it vanishes, just like that in one click, making her feel decidedly better and if anything, a little relieved. Just then, a noficatation popped up on the side of the screen, along with the familiar ting that came with if. It wasn't anything interesting, just that Naomi had changed her relationship status, completely irrelevant to her of all people. But then after reading it over a few seconds, it dawned on her. Naomi was in a relationship? Stupid Naomi, that just left Satoshi out in the open for the taking...

That sudden thought of Satoshi jolted in her mind. What if that person WAS Satoshi? How awful would that be! Ayumi cringed just thinking about it. What if they walked to school hand in hand, kissed in the yard and flirted at the canteen? And with her watching, just so Naomi could rub the whole thing in her face! Disgusting. She was about to question Naomi with a quick DM, but her phone started ringing, so she had to put her jealous filled curiosity on hold for a bit.

"Hello?" Ayumi answered with a slight sigh.

"Hey Shinozaki! It's Sakuraaaaa! "

"Sakura...hey," Ayumi replied, glancing at the number. It wasn't the one registered as Sakura's, how odd.

"Hi. How's it hanging there? Did you get good results?" Sakura chatted.

"Yes, I thought I told you that I got a place!"

"Haha, i know I know."

"Is this your number, it's not the same as I text you with?"

There was a slight silence on the other end of the line, almost like a hesitation.

"Oh riiiight, it's the home phone I'm ringing off of course. I've used up all my free minutes sorry."

"S'okay." Ayumi said, her frown easing away. Home number.

"So I was thinking we could meet up at the shopping mall today...say 4 after you finish school?" She suggested.

"Sure...it's Friday right?"

"Yup. Have you got anything planned?"

Ayumi frowned. Friday...That's right, Yoshiki's exam date!

"Actually," Ayumi spoke hurriedly. "I need to be somewhere. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Surrrrrre thing. Bye!"

"Bye..."

Ayumi grabbed her bag quickly, thinking that perhaps she would give Yoshiki a good luck visit before he left for his exam. He must be so nervous...  
She was about to leave the house, when she noticed a tall blonde figure with broad shoulders leaning outside her house.

"What's he doing here!" She blushed, flustered. "Argh!"

"He's been there for ages..." Commented Hinoe from the kitchen. "Is he your boyfriend, Ayumi-chan?"

"NO!"

"You looked pretty close the other day," she told her, knowingly with a smile. Ayumi's shoulders loosened, she could always count on her sister for advice at any time.

"I'm not sure how I feel about him," she mused from the hallway. "I don't even know how he feels about me!"

"Well, you've got plenty of time to figure that out,your still young!"

"Heehe..."

"Have a nice day at school, Ayumi. Tell Your 'friend' good luck on the test!"  
Ayumi left smiling but wondered how on earth Hinoe knew about the entrance exam, she hadn't told her about it, or even mentioned Yoshiki at all!

* * *

"Hey Shinozaki!" he called as she sprang down the steps. For some reason she couldn't explain, she felt like today was going to be a day worth living.

"Hiya! All prepped for the test?" she asked as she joined him on the pavement outside her road.

"Sure," he said, raking a hand through his hair like he did so many times before when he was nervous. "What period is it in again?"

"Second, dummy. Luckily I've got a free one first, so I can keep you out of trouble. Satoshi does too..."

Was it just her imagination, or did Yoshiki's eyes suddenly cloud, and his smile faded slightly. Surely he'd be happy to see his supposed good friend?

"Don't you want to see him?" she inquired, curiosity typically getting the better of her.

"Yeah, it's not that..." He murmured, avoiding crossing his vision with hers. Suddenly he sighed and quickened his pace as if he'd just had a change of thought, not wanting to

continue the conversation, so Ayumi tactfully let the matter go.  
It wasn't long before they had arrived at the large iron gates at the entrance at the school, and Ayumi spotted her friends laughing and chatting happily amongst themselves. Mayu and Morishige were showing pictures to each other on their cell phones, looking at each other like they were the only two there. Weird.

In another corner were Seiko and Naomi, goofing around like usual, making Ayumi slightly jealous. She didn't have anyone special to hang out with , and although they all treated her like a good friend, they had their own best friends, something she lacked, so she couldn't help but feel a little lonely sometimes, especially when everyone had to choose partners; she'd often tag on the ends of another pair. Not fun.

Yoshiki caught Ayumi's wistful look and snaked a arm sneakily around her waist, making her snap back to attention. It felt unsettling for him to something like that, but for some odd reason it didn't feel uncomfortable. Satoshi caught her eye from where she was standing, making her blush even for then she was currently, so she writhed away from his gentle grip. However instead of looking hurt, Yoshiki seemingly pretended nothing that happened, and just waved at the approaching friend.

"Hey mate, long time no see!" greeted, Yoshiki, slapping him on the back.

"Yoshiki! I didn't know you were joining Kisiragi!" Replied Satoshi, as equally as enthusiastic.  
"He's not," pointed out Ayumi bluntly. "He's taking the entrance exam today."

"Oh really?" Satoshi said, raising his eyebrows, though he hadn't of actually been listening. "Well, uh, good luck, I'll leave you guys...to do whatever you were doing before."

Satoshi practically dashed to the giggling figures of Naomi and Seiko, grinning slightly to himself. Were they together? If they were, it would certainly get Ayumi off his back, not that her obvious crush bothered him, but it was just a little bit irritating sometimes, since he could see right through her acts.

"So what were we doing?" queried Yoshiki, his eyes searching for an answer. Ayumi sighed, the pink tinge still dominating her pale skin.

"Walking," she bluffed, biting her lip. "To school?"

"Huh?!" He replied, confused. "Damn you Satoshi, I was so close..."

"Eh?"

"No, nothing..."

"We should probably head to the study area, okay?"

"Sure."

Ayumi led Yoshiki through the sea of students, all wearing either the cute girls sailor suits or the boys minimalistic shirt with the renowned school name tag on the front. Some girls noticed him, and giggled, pointing as he walked past. Yoshiki had no idea why they were all blushing an staring, he generally didn't spend much time with people, not girls in particular anyway. As for Ayumi, she couldn't help but feel that same twang of jealousy in her heart whenever a girl looked at him, interested. Just as she was about to enter the building, a tall girl, different from the gossipers she had encountered earlier in the week, with sharp eyes, scouring for her prey.

"Ah, Shinozaki..." She called with a twisted smile. "Such a player, aren't you? First you stole Mochida away from Naomi, and now your two timing with this-" she paused to glare at Yoshiki for effect. "...it just gets worse and worse!"

"I don't know what your talking about!" Ayumi shouted back, trying to get away from her as soon as possible.

"You know all to well!" Came her snide reply. A few more girls gathered round, stopping her from getting in. They were all laughing and jeering at her feeble attempts to push through, calling her rude and dirty names as she cried in protest. And in the mist of it all, Yoshiki stood, some what amused at the scene before him. At first, he thought they were just teasing her, but after a few moments, he could see she was getting upset, so impulsively, shouted out protectively.

"That's enough, let her through!" He yelled, forcing their giggles to die out. "Or I'll force you too!"

"Yoshiki..."

"D'ya really think we're gonna let a newbie like you order us around?" Said the ringleader. With a disgusted snort. "Hmmm?"

Then Yoshiki did what Ayumi honestly thought he'd never do in a million years, but then again, he was about as unpredictable as a volcanic eruption.  
"SHUT UP!" He screamed silencing them all. And slapped the main girl right on the cheek.

* * *

_**YOLO**_


	9. Chapter 9 - Understand me!

**Hey! Sorry for the slight delay, but i've been ill and super busy plus my little sister kinda stole my laptop (i know, little sisters SUCK) so it took a while to type up.**

**Never mind about that anyway. Enjoy the chapter!**

**P.s loads of you loved Yoshiki's bish slap. It's totally canon of course.**

**well, that would make it better if it was canon. *sigh***

* * *

All of the girls stared at Yoshiki in absoloute shocked horror. It was unheard of for a boy to slap anyone, especially a girl! Ayumi had also joined the opened mouthed club, which was gaining even more members as people started to point and whisper. The girl that had just been slapped glared at him, rubbing her sore cheek and sniveling, reminding Ayumi of a child who'd just been told off. She half expected Yoshiki to apoligise all gentleman like, but he just shot the girl he'd just slapped a warning glare of hatred, and pushed through the hushed crowd, pulling Ayumi by her wrist. As she reluctantly followed, Ayumi sent the girls a dismayed look of apoledgy, genuinely startled herself by his sudden outburst. However they just shunned her look, and walked away, whispering in a huddle.

"What was that for?" asked Ayumi, anger rising in her voice. "You didn't have to go and hit her!"

"Oh yeah?" snapped Yoshiki and they walked into the empty hallway. "I was trying to protect you!"

"From what exactly?! They were just gossips, plain old gossips-"

"Ugh, I don't think you'll ever understand..." moaned Yoshiki, thumping his fist against the nearby wall, a tense look in his frustrated steely eyes.

"No I don't!"

"They were being mean to you, right?" he began, facing her with his mouth set in a thin line. "I stopped them. You should be greatful Ayumi!"

"Grateful?" Ayumi almost laughed at the thought. "Do you know how embaressing that was? It's just going to feed them more fuel for gossiping, and do you know what could of happened if a teacher saw us?"

They stood facing each other, their eyes focused on one another's with an almost magnetic connection. Even though Yoshiki's eye brows were furrowed, and his pale lips umsmiling, Ayumi couldn't help but feel a fuzzy feeling deep inside. It wasn't right!

"Anyway," Ayumi eventually managed to break the awkward, unwanted silence that surrounded them like a cloud. "We should do some last minute studying, if you still want to pass..."

Quickly, she turned on her heel, arms crossed stubbornly across her chest. She made way for the study area, pretending that she didn't care if Yoshiki was still with her, however of course she wanted him to follow her. She didn't have to worry for long though, since after a few quiet steps she could here muttering and the sound of his shoes against the tiles behind her. He wouldn't of gotten very far without her anyway; Kisaragi was big, and although Yoshiki was tall, he was no match for an unfamiliar building like the school.

She entered the study area, not bothering to keep the door open for him, but of course he didn't explain. Her eyes had turned cold and distant as she set up a table, and completly ignored Yoshiki's inquisitive eyes scanning all around her.

"Look, I-"

"Shut up," she snapped rudely, pushing a text book at him. There were two small groups of student, and each and every one of them were staring at her, as for the news of Yoshiki's slap had spread around the school as quickly as a wildfire. "Get on with with it."

Yoshiki's lips hardened in a straight line. He hated to be treated this way, but he didn't want to anger Ayumi much more, so relcutantly picked up a pencil, chewing the end like a school boy, and began reading over the notes he had made, some with Ayumi, which were neat, and the others unorginised and messy. It wasn't long before everyone else had left the study room, since the aptmosphere was awfully tense, and no one could fully concerntrait, including Ayumi who was trying to catch up with some extra study she had missed whilst she had been tutoring Yoshiki in her free time.

"Why are you being like this?" Yoshiki asked, a hurt tone in his usually carefree tone. "What have I done to deserve the cold shoulder?"

"Huh," muttered Ayumi, her eyes sliding away from his. "And you ask me. You can't just slap someone, you know, even if it was in my defence. Its not just."

"Oh yeah?" he shouted, glaring at her. "I couldn't stand the way she was treating you! Did you expect me just to watch as she cut your self esteem down, with that dirty smirk on her face?"

"No, I think-"

"You know what, I don't care what you think anymore." he said quietly, looking at her with shiny, hurt eyes. "I was just trying to protect you. And I won't stop."

"I appericate it you know," she told him after a slight pause to think. "I just wish you were less rash, and learnt to think before you act!"

"I'm like that. You should know."

"I've only known you, for what, a month?"

"That doesn't matter!" he cried, fixing his grey eyes on her azure ones, that still had a hint of confused coldness in them. "That doesn't mean I'm going to change the way I fell, Ayumi, I -"

DING DONG.

The bell had rang for the second peirod. There was a brief, ear piercing screech as the microphone started up, and soon enough the voice of the assistant principal could be heard from the speakers attached to the corners of every wall.

"Can all people taking the entrance exam for this academic year for Kisiragi, please make their way to the Exam Hall, class 4-2. I repeat, please can all potential students make their way to the Exam Hall. Everyone else please go to your next lesson as normal. There is one class room change, but it should be on your planner anyway. Thank you, good luck and have a nice day!"

A nice day, huh, Ayumi thought. It hadn't really started that well for her and Yoshiki!

"You were saying?" continued Ayumi, packing her books back into her satchel.

"Oh, it doesn't matter now," he replied, also putting away his stuff though he did look quite disappointed. "Can you tell me where the Exam Hall is?"

"Sure," she said, leading him out of the room. "Fortunately, it's just down that corridor on the left."

"Thanks." Yoshiki grinned, though inside he didn't feel to happy. "I mean it."

"Oh it's not problem. I actually have to go to history now, and it's on the other side of the building sorry. Bye!"

Ayumi dashed down the corridor, her pale cheeks burning furiously. What was making her blush so badly? Eventually, after avoiding various gossipy girls and rough groups of boys, she made her way down to the classroom, where she shared history with Naomi, Mayu and Morishige. Morishige hadn't arrived yet, and by the look of it, Naomi and Mayu were having a good chat without her. Would it really bother them if she joined in?

* * *

"Hey," she greeted them, with a small grin. Miracously, both Mayu and Naomi smiled back, showing no uncertaninty or disgust. They had probably heard the rumors, but didn't really care, thank god.

"We were just talking about that new boy, Kishinuma, is it?" giggled Mayu.

"Yeah, it is." comformed Ayumi, surprising herself of how proud she sounded.

"Ooh, Shinozaki, I saw him walking with you! What a good class rep for taking him under your wing!" added Naomi, with a beam.

"Well, of course it's my duty!" laughed Ayumi, trying not to sound too concieted.

"Mmm, But I have to say you looked very close!"

"Teehee, maybe Ayumi's finally got someone. They did look like an item!"

"No," said Ayumi flatly, though she couldn't ignore the pink blush creeping to her cheeks. "I just wanted to help him of course, he's just like any newbie. I treat everyone the same!"

She tried her best to sound serious, but Naomi burst out laughing, and even Mayu couldn't stop a giggle or too escaping her pale pink lips.

"You can go on double dates now," Mayu suggested, waving to Morishige as the glasses wearing boy came into view.

"More like triple dates," sniggered Naomi, and she saw Morishige's eyes light up at the sight of his little but very close friend. "Your 'dear shige-nii!"

"We're not like that!" insisted Mayu, going red as a rose. "But...do you really think he like, like-likes me?"

"Of course he does! It's skinny love..." Naomi said with a sigh.

"What did you mean by double dates?" Ayumi asked Mayu, her lips pursed. Did that mean that Naomi was dating someone now?

"Huh? Hurry up guys, everyone else is going in!"

Ayumi entered that history lesson with curiousity taking over her. What had Mayu meant by 'double dates' ? She was certainly not dating Yoshiki, but Naomi on the other hand, could probably get any guy she wanted with a figure like hers. She was extremely pretty, after all. But she couldn't get the awful feeling at the pit of her stomach, that Naomi was dating someone, who Ayumi had a lust for. But she wouldn't, not without boasting to her, or at least mentioning it! However, Naomi rarely liked to talk about herself, she much prefered learning about others, or so she liked to say.

Could Naomi be dating Satoshi?

* * *

**Yes. Dumbass**


	10. Chapter 10 - Café Small Talk

**Oh hey there! Fancy seeing you here...**

**I'm ill! Yay? I've missed school and basically spent the whole frickin' day watching movies and eating. I was looking forward to school, I have three languages on a Wednesday (sarcastic text is sarcastic)! Oh, and i've been looking up a bunch of Japanese artists/bands. Is it just me who finds the melodies in Japanese music so much better (even though I don't have a clue what their saying) than english speaking music?**

**Notable ones: Scandal, Chemistry, Cool Joke**

**Can I also say they have all done themes for FMA/B! I did not know that! AWESOME.**

**Without further ado, here comes another chapter! Tee hee!**

* * *

Ayumi was sat at a small table in the café Sakura had asked her to meet her at. It was a pretty little café in the entrance of the shopping centre, and she remembered it breifly, since she had come here with Hinoe a few weeks ago. Sighing, she ordered an Iced Mocha, her favorite drink in the café at the moment, as well as a blueberry muffin whilst she waited for her friend. It wasn't too long before Sakura turned up, her blonde hair around her shoulders with a new salmon pink streak down the middle. In the crowd of people, all with black or brown hair, she was tremendously easy to spot. She was wearing her uniform, just like Ayumi, which made Ayumi quite relived since she hadn't had time to go home and get changed. Sakura had probably came straight from her school too.

"Shinozaki!" she greeted, pulling a chair out at the table Ayumi was at. "Long time, no see!"

"Yep!" replied Ayumi with a smile. "How have you been?"

"Good, good, everything's fine here. You?" asked Sakura, stretching as she sat down opposite her.

"It's...alright I suppose."

"You did get a place didn't you?"

"Of course I did! I told you, remember?" Ayumi replied, remembering the text conversation she had had with the girl.

"Huh? When?"

"Over text...?"

"Oh, oh yeah, that's right!" she suddenly seemed to remember, with a laugh. "My stupid cousin..."

Ayumi caught the last mumbled words that Saukra had said under her breath. Of course, the reason why Sakura had been unable to come over and look at the results, was because her family had come over.

"Aw, it doesn't matter anymore, Kasako. We both got through anyway!" Ayumi dropped the subject, taking a bite out of her muffin. It tasted surprisingly good, the tasty blueberries leaving a fruity taste in her mouth. She hadn't eaten a desert type treat in absolutely ages.

"Alright. I'm gonna grab some grub, be right back!" Sakura told her, scraping out of her seat.

She came back with a white chocolate frappe with extra whipped cream placed on the top. Well, to Ayumi it wasn't a topping, it was practically a mountain. Ayumi thought deeply about Sakura in her mind whilst she chatted with her in between eating. She expected it to be a bit awkward, since they had barely got to know each other, yet Sakura seemed to be far more confident then when she had been in the waiting room. Ayumi herself had been extremely nervous, and now couldn't see why Sakura wasn't either. It was a scary situation!

"So, only one for term until we go to college! I'm excited, but..."

"Nervous," Ayumi finished off for her, giving her a knowing look. "I know exactly how you feel Kasako-san!"

"Haha. How's school going anyway? I heard Kisaragi is suuuuper strict!" Sakura continued, slurping up the remnants of her drink.

"Its not strict," Ayumi correct with the smallest hint of a frown. "But it's not exactly fun at the moment either!"

"Oh?"

"Well, it's-"

"Let me guess. Boy troubles?" guessed Sakura, glancing at Ayumi.

"Partly, but-"

"Oh I got it all figured out. The boy you're crushing on doesn't like you, and theres the boy best friend of course, that's just making the whole situation worse...You know, that kind of thing."

"He's not my best-" flared up Ayumi, before realising what she had said. Then her mouth opened wide in the most comical gape.

"What?"

"How on earth do YOU know that?" Ayumi wanted to know, totally stunned.

"I know that look anywhere," Sakura giggled, fumbling in her bag for something. "Trust me, I've seen it before!"

"When?"

"As soon as I spotted you! A oh-im-so-conflicted-please-help-me look!" Sakura said bluntly, almost as if it was a fact known to all decent human beings.

"Erm, okay..."

"Trust me," laughed Sakura, her hand still searching for something. "My 15 year old sister is the biggest player ever. She has a new boyfriend every week, and then get's upset when they dump her. No wonder my brother hates her!"

Suddenly without warning, Sakura dropped her bag clumsily and the contents of it spilled out onto the floor around Ayumi's feet.

"Oh, i'm SO sorry!" Sakura immediately apologized, a look of horror on her pretty face.

"Don't worry; i'll pick them up from here!" assured Ayumi, kneeling down to pick things up. A hairbrush and pocket mirror were put back into the bag safely, as well as her leopard print purse and keys. There was her phone too, but that had gone behind Ayumi's seat, so she decidedly went to find it, hoping that people weren't staring at her strange actions. She picked it up, still kneeling, accidentally turning it on as she grabbed it. The screen immediately flashed up with the messaging window, making Ayumi shield her eyes with the neon pink background, as expected from the presumably girly teenager. Abruptly, the conversation bar came up, one name catching Ayumi's eye in particular, and it wasn't even hers!

Actually, her name wasn't even on the conversation's list. Perhaps she had deleted it to make room for more recent conversations.

Not wanting to look suspicious, she got up and returned the phone to Sakura, who thanked her gratefully and didn't seem to notice that it was on. Phew.

"I love your phone," Ayumi commented with a friendly look in her eyes. "Is it the latest IPhone model?"

"I didn't think you'd look at it so closely!" said Sakura, making Ayumi unsure if she was being accusing or friendly. However she followed it through with a sweet smile, so Ayumi's doubts bit the dust.

"Yes, it is actually. Where were we with our conversation again?" continued Sakura, putting her bag back on the floor, blushing for some reason.

"You made a creepy statement about my problems...? prompted Ayumi.

"That's right! Geez, you need to do something about that..."

"How?" asked Ayumi with a pout. "Half the people in the school hate me, I haven't got a best friend, I think my crush goes out with someone I really don't like, and even Yoshiki's gone a bit cold on me!"

"You need to decide for yourself," Sakura advised, shaking her head. "Not everything will come your way Shinozaki."

"Now you just sound like my sister," joked Ayumi, thinking of wise Hinoe.

"Haha! Do you have the time on you?"

"Yes," replied Ayumi, glancing at her watch. "It's been around 45 minutes since I got here."

"Oh right..." said Sakura, biting her lip.

"What about you?" asked Ayumi with a grin. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

She imagined that Sakura was pretty popular, with both friends and boys too. As far as she knew, Sakura was pretty, bubbly and decidedly likable, so there was no reason why she couldn't be. Ayumi tried to make herself look and sound like that, but no matter how hard she tried Naomi would always be prettier, Seiko always more bubbly, and Mayu definitely more likable. Apart from her love of art, manga especially, Ayumi considered herself very plain, and that wasn't good as far as friends and boy's were considered.

"No, actually." Admitted Sakura, looking ashamed. "I'm not even that popular!"

"Whaaa?! That's crazy!"

"Well, a lot of people went to my middle school you see," explained Sakura with a slight hesitation. "And back then...well, I was like my brother."

"A children's author?"

"No, he's very geeky. Always reads books. I used to think that was cool, and copied it. I tried to make myself look cool in high school, and it's working...a bit."

"I know what you mean. I know what it's like to be a different person." Ayumi nodded slowly, thinking about the ignorant mask she had put on whenever someone was mean to her in school, when she was actually dying inside. "It sucks."

"Aw, let's not drown in our worries," said Sakura brightly, handing over the drained glasses and rubbish to a maid walking by. "We should defo meet up again sometime Shinozaki!"

"Sure!" Ayumi laughed, putting her jacket on over her top, before slinging her bag quickly over her shoulder. "Are you getting the train?"

They compared train tickets, and it revealed they were in fact getting on the same train as each other, however Sakura was getting off two stops before her.

As the train pushed through the city, Ayumi closed her eyes and remembered the last time she had been on a train, two months ago when she had met Yoshiki. Usually if they were going out, Ayumi's family would go in the car instead as it was more efficient for her busy father. She recalled the protective look in his eyes as he pulled her away from the creep at the station; the interested expression he gave her when she had mentioned where she was going. The black guitar case he apparently never let out of his sight, with the exception of school, and the way he raked his left hand through his blonde hair.

Then she realised she didn't want to lose their friendship.

* * *

**OMG OMG OMG**

**Can i just make fun of my own typo please**

**Modern girl, chapter 9**

"**That doesn't mean i'm going to change the way I **_fell_**.."**

**Quotio Yoshiko**

**In life sometimes you have to face up to the way you fell over, you can't just change it. Words of wisdom from Yoshiki, or more rightly, me. I'll make sure that gets corrected. xD**


	11. Chapter 11 - Checkmate

**Good news everyone, I'm better! But i'm also busy...**

**Enjoy though :3**

* * *

Ayumi spent most of her weekend sleeping, reading and wondering about all the things in life she'd never find out about. How Naomi was surely now dating Satoshi, and there was no hope left for her. Why would be even pick Naomi over her? In Ayumi's conflicted mind, she would be a better girlfriend, but then that all came down to simple oppinion. Ayumi wasn't particularly conceited, however she did have a good oppinion of herself and where she stood in the world. Not very high, considering the forever increasing world population.

Anyway, she was feeling quite down on the drizzly Monday morning that followed, after not really speaking to Yoshiki about his exam though they had texted each other if anything, a couples of times during the weekend. Yoshiki wouldn't get his results for a few days, as they had to be properly examined by the school officials. Some people questioned his sudden desire for an education, with just one term left of school, but Ayumi knew it was the best thing to help him get a decent future.

Bored stiff, she flicked open her phone as she walked along the dreary pavements, sighing as she liked Naomi's and Seiko's bubbly texts. Why couldn't she be like them? Then she noticed that all she posted about was her studies and drawing, and realised that people didn't generally find that interesting. But she did, and Hinoe always said to her it was good to stay true to yourself no matter who will judge you. Rethinking the saying, she scrolled past the 'suggested posts' section, however not before catching a glimpse of her very own name.

'KISARAGI: Ayumi Shinozaki Club'

Curious and stunned, she clicked on the page without even thinking, and what she saw, really shocked her right through to her spine.

'Welcome to Kisaragi Gossip: Ayumi Shinozaki's club. Here we post all the rumors and gossip that's been going on this week with exclusive interviews with the stars of the school! Leave a like and don't forget to share with everyone of course!'

A gossip page? It sounded like one of those celebrity magazine websites or something, yet there was a bitter message clearly shining through. It was aimed to upset her in person. There was all sorts of rubbish, some she had heard of in the whispers, like the bitch fights with Naomi, or two timing with Yoshiki and Satoshi. A fairly new one had come out, describing how she was a 'fake whore' and an 'attention seeker', with quotes from some of the giggly girls, and even some she recognised. Like Naomi Nakashima, for example...And Mochida, Satoshi Mochida.

"She's such a lying cow!" Naomi tells me as she sits with her handsome boy friend, the infamous Satoshi Mochida. "You heard the rumors she spread about us, right Toshi-kun?"

"That's right," agrees Satoshi with a frown, the hurt clearly showing in his chocolaty eyes. "I...It's horrible you know? She totally needs to stop!"

"It's not just you apparently," I continue, giving Satoshi a supportive pat on the shoulder. "She's been saying awful things about your friend, Seiko Shinohara as well!"

"Not her!" groans Naomi, looking shocked. It's obviously news to the cute and bootylichious girl. "How could she!"

"Everyone reading this," begins Satoshi, waving his arms frantically at me, a dull and cold look in his usually go nice eyes...as if to exaggerate just how serious the situation was. "Block Ayumi on all social networking; she's a troll too! Block her number, avoid her, and don't even think about being quiet, warn all your friends!"

Wise words from Mochida there. I'll post again when I get to catch up with my long time friend, Seiko Shinohara! Until then - Moeko xox

Ayumi practically chocked on the air she was breathing in. How could her friends of gone behind her back and said all those nasty things? Sure, they may think she was doing the same, but surely they had known her long enough to know she wouldn't dream of being openly mean to them! Maybe this girl, Moeko (she'd never heard of before) had faked the conversation...However when Ayumi checked the comments and likes, both of their names were there, with a full link to their profiles. There was no denying it, Naomi and Satoshi were adding on the hate to the already feet tall pile.

Satoshi could never do something like that though. Not in a million years! Yet he had, and it wasn't the first time he had done something behind her back, for he never told her he was going out with Naomi. It was all so confusing, and that added onto the creepy texts she had been getting and the strange notes she found here there and everywhere, Ayumi was seriously getting stressed out.

Before long she was outside the large iron gates on the school, instantly spotting Seiko and Naomi walking together, both giggling. Laughing about her, probably.

Deciding to avoid them, she made for the entrance, wanting to avoid anyone that would stop to talk to her, even the teachers, However Kisiragi was a busy school, and you ran into people more often then you'd care to admit.

"I'm sorry!" yelled Ayumi over the loud crowd of people as she pushed a brown haired boy out of her way.

"No problem Shinozaki! See ya in class!" Satoshi called back with a grin.

"Hiya Ayumi" called Mayu with a smile, Morishige walking quietly by her side. They had no doubt been discussing another play or performance. "See you at break."

"See you at break, Shinozaki." added Morishige after, not wanting to look rude.

"Bye..." she mumbled in reply, wondering why they weren't all being mean, or at least blanking her. She had no idea what was going on in peoples minds anymore but her owns. It was getting overwhelming, so later at break, she decided to confront Naomi in the subtest way she could do.

"Hey Nakashima," she greeted her chirpily, sitting down opposite her, next to Mayu. "How are you?"

"I'm great thanks!" she replied with a warm smile. Wow, thought Ayumi, she really needed to go and join Mayu's drama club!

"Good. Do you know anyone called Moeko, by any chance?" continued Ayumi, still smiling though inside she was cursing Naomi for acting so innocent.

"Moeko...Doesn't ring a bell. What do you think Seiko?"

"I had a cat called Moeko..." murmered Seiko, a hint of sadness in her voice. "She got run over by a-"

"No? Alright then, Naomi."

"Class...rep?"

Ayumi was standing up now, her fists clenched in frustration. A glare of pure ice was etched onto her pale face, shocking Naomi at the sudden transformation.

"So all this time," Ayumi said, almost mockingly. "You've not even HEARD the rumours?"

"I've heard rumors about you Shinozaki, but i'd never spread them!" Naomi defended herself, a little taken a back.

"You admit it! You've kept up your little sweet girlfriend act, pretending you don't know what's going on, when you've been the founder of it the whole time!" Ayumi accused Naomi, pointing a finger rudely at her.

"Hey!" shouted Seiko, jumping up to defend her best friend. "No need to get so loud Shinozaki!"

"Loud?!" laughed Shinoazki, bringing her phone out of her pocket. Satoshi, Mayu and Morishige were all staring at her now, confused and worried. "You've made your oppinions loud and clear!"

"I don't know what you mean," Naomi told her calmly, as Satoshi protectively squeezed her arm. "What are you showing me Ayumi, your shoving it so far up to my face, it's gone all blurry."

"Just like your memory, I suppose."

"Just let me see!"

Ayumi threw the phone angrily at Naomi, who caught it gracefully with her netball catching skills.

"I've never seen this page in my life." Naomi said bluntly. "I never even followed it. Seiko, did you do this yesterday when I was getting changed and left my phone in your 'safe' hands?"

"Noo waaaay!" Seiko denied, snatching the phone of her to get a good look. "You always change your passwords, Nao...Is this some sort of hate page?"

"Why am I following it?" Satoshi wanted to know as he spotted his name amongst the list of followers for the page that Seiko was scrolling through. "I'd never-"

"So this is your little cover up plan, is it?" asked Ayumi, pursing her lips. "In case you got caught?"

"I swear I've never seen it. My network's been acting strange recently, it's been forcing me to log out at odd times and I've had lots of security alarms..." mused Naomi, very aware that Ayumi was trembling in obvious anger at her.

"That's why you've been changing your passwords so often!" realised Seiko.

"By chance, are you being hacked, Nakashima?" suggested Morishige, who had been silent whilst witnessing the entire conversation. "By what you've described, it seems like the case."

"You can trust Shig," added Mayu. "He's the best at sorting mobile phones!"

"Oh, maybe all of you have been hacked too right?" said Ayumi sarcastically, grabbing her phone off Seiko.

"Now that you mention it..." Satoshi started, but was silenced by a roar of anger coming from no other but Ayumi.

"You know what, you called me a lying cow, Naomi, but you're ALL LIARS!" she yelled, making Mayu jump in her seat.

"Your making my life a misery, all the texts, notes, rumors. If you didn't like me, you should of said instead of doing this!"

She was crying now, tears of pure anger and self pity. They all hated her for sure.

"I don't know who I can TRUST anymore!

* * *

** #17yearsold...**


	12. Chapter 12 - Got it

**Hey guys! Sorry I couldn't meet my every other day deadline :(**

**I've just been really, reeeaaallly busy!**

**This was a difficult chapter to write! I need to re-introduce my antagonist (It's not Naomi -.-') soon. Ugh writers block sucks!**

**Go to chapter 2 to get the reference m'kay?**

* * *

To: Ayumi From: Naomi

Text

I'm really confused about what happened today Ayumi. I really hope your not upset. Call me? xxx

To: Ayumi From: Satoshi

Private Message Facebook

Shinozaki, I contacted the administrators, and theres been a major hack on mine, Seiko's, Naomi's, Mayu, Morishige's accounts, as well as two others, Sakura something, and someone else with a sure name or Tsuji or something like that.

To: Ayumi From: Mayu

E-mail

Hey, there was no need to be so loud today. I don't think anyone has been spreading rumors about you really. I hope your okay! M xox ^-^

* * *

There was no message from Seiko. Probably because she was angry about how Ayumi had talked to her best friend. Oh well.

Although she liked attention, Ayumi couldn't help but feel disgusted by her so called friends sympathy. As far as she knew, they were all liars, especially Naomi...and Satoshi.

What had caused Satoshi to turn on her like that? Ayumi had had one lingering piece of hope in her heart that maybe Satoshi liked her back, even after it was revealed he was going out with her secretly-not-so-friend-arch-nemnisis Naomi. She had always imagined Satoshi as the perfect being, in every way great and inspiring with no flaws included. Ayumi thought she was special when he went out of his way to help her, or flashed her a sweet smile, but only no did she realise he actually did that to everyone, whether he was friends with them or not. That made her feel like she'd been blind the whole time, off in a different world where everything went her way.

Then she had crashed down to earth, leaving messy craters everywhere where she had been careless. Careless with her friends, words and thoughts. She had messed up big time, and she didn't need her friends' subtle, sympathetic texts to tell her that. Why didn't they hate her already?

Part of her wanted them to detest her, for it would be much easier to endure hate comments then unwanted snippets of empathy. It, just, was, not, FAIR!

Usually Ayumi loved tuesdays, as she had double history as well as art. However as soon as she woke up, she had a sickening taste in her mouth where the impulsive, nasty words had rolled of her tongue yesterday. Additionally, she was sporting a scorching headache, and generally didn't feel like moving at all.

Hinoe had alerted her parents, as she knew when Ayumi was ill just by looking at her. She always hated missing school, but Hinoe could tell it was a contagious virus, and agreed that she'd stay at home with her younger sister as her parents were both working that day.

"Ayumi-chan, you stay in bed as long as you like okay? I've got a couple of client meetings soon so i'll be out for a couple of hours. Theres food in the kitchen if you feel like it, but you don't need to if your sick." Hinoe told her quietly as Ayumi shivered under the covers.

"Mmmkay.." came Ayumi's muffled, tired voice. "See wuu layteerr..."

Hinoe smiled before shutting the door. Apart from being obviously ill, Hinoe knew there was something else on her little sister's mind. But she knew better not to delve to deep into her business, so she left without mentioning her concern.

* * *

Ayumi eventually managed to drag herself out of bed, but didn't get any further then shugging a thin kimono wrap around her shivering body. She thought about what everyone would be doing at school at that time, most likely in double history, her favorite subject. Whopee! They probably hadn't of noticed she was even ill. For some reason, her phone was buzzing with texts and nofifications, loudly with the same bleating tone. As Ayumi staggered over to the door, she found it more annoying by the minute, and eventually got sick of it and practically pounced on it to stop the noise. Yet when she deleted the messages, which were in fact hate messages on facebook and text messages, even from people she didn't know, they just kept on coming like orders to the best resturant in town. Her eyes were sore from the bright light; she gripped the phone in her fist with sweaty palms.

"I'M SICK OF IT!" she cried, throwing it across the room. "SHUT UP!"

Little did she know that in fact Hinoe had opened her bedroom window for fresh air, and the phone had gone straight through the open area. For a second she felt like going to retrieve it, but in her mind it wasn't worth it at al, not if it was going to just have the same effect on her every time she received a text. However almost instantly after throwing it, she heard a surprised though slightly deep cry from the pavement below. In her anger, Ayumi hadn't considered the many pedestrians that would be walking past her house!

In shock horror, she rushed to the open window, glancing outside with sudden wide eyes. She hoped they weren't to mad with her, it was an accident after all!

"Oy, Shinozaki!" called the familiarly gruff voice. "Watch out where you throw things!"

"Oh, it's just you..." called Ayumi quietly from her window, feeling a snigger arising in her chest as Yoshiki leant over to pick up her phone.

"It's cracked," he told her, showing her the screen fro below. "Badly, too."

"Oh well," Ayumi dismissed, with a wave of her hand. "It was more trouble then it was worth anyway."

"What do you mean?" he replied with a frown. "And why are you not at school? It's a Tuesday if I'm not mistaken, you don't want to miss art and history!"

"How would you know that?" she asked quite loudly. "I think you should come in, I can't hear you very well..."

A few minutes later Yoshiki was sat in her bedroom quietly, listening to her explain what had happened in school with Naomi and her friends, about finding out their elaborate plan and them denying it like they had no idea. She told him how she was ill, but actually had kind of scived school so she wouldn't have to see their faces and the hate that would most definitely come her way. He was sprawled on her bed, looking most comfortable beside her, which actually put Ayumi's mind at ease slightlly. At least things were never awkward with Yoshiki.

"Ayumi," he said once she had finished her ranty recount. "Are you sure that they are all lying? Even Satoshi?"

"Yes, theres no doubt," she replied, biting her lip. "I didn't think Satoshi would, but he's made his decision, chose his side. I can't imagine dating Nakashima would be that interesting."

Yoshiki's eyes lit up at Ayumi's words, but they were quickly diminished with a sultry nod.

"Your right. I'd never date Nakashima either."

"You don't even know her Yoshiki..."

"Yeah, well," he sighed, crossing his arms. "Maybe theres just _someone else_ i like, and i'm waiting for..."

"Life's too short to think like _that _know Yoshiki. Just do it!"

"Yeah exactly, listen to your own words, am I right?"

"Huh?"

"You need to go in to school tomorrow and talk properly with Naomi and everyone else. Find out what really happened. Hear them out, they'll hear you out to if you are just patient!" he advised.

"That's not how it works," pointed out Ayumi. "They all hate me now. And I hate them! You should of seen the messages they were sending me!"

"If they sent them," countered Yoshiki, remembering Ayumi's mention of Satoshi's hacking 'exuse'. "You don't know that, where's the evidence?"

Ayumi was about to point to her phone, but then ran her fingers over the broken screen. Maybe throwing it wasn't such a good idea...

"Whatever. They won't talk to me tomorrow, especially Naomi and Satoshi!" she pouted.

"What I don't understand is why your upset!" spluttered Yoshiki. "You brought this on yourself!"

"But, I'm scared i'll lose them, i mean, their my only friends..." she whispered. "I'll look a loner without them, see!"

"When your losing someone because you were reckless, or misjudging, or even greedy and mean, you should do anything to stop them. Since when you lose them, and it's your fault, the feeling left is terrible!" Yoshiki turned to her, his eyes fiery.

His deep words almost took the breath straight out of her lungs Ayumi faced him, her cheeks burning partly with embarrassment of being lectured by him in particularly, and partly because...well, she didn't really know.

"Trust me, I've seen it before. Sometimes the person you lose falls, not the other way round, and you can just she them darkening, their happiness deteriorating every second."

"Yoshiki..." she said, feeling her vision blur ever so slightly. "I've messed up. I knew that their explanation was totally legit, but I let my pride get in the way of me. I'm sorry i've got you in this, you can go if you like..."

Yoshiki just grinned awkwardly, and raised a trembling hand to Ayumi's face as if to stroke it. Then he must of thought better of himself, for he dragged his arm away, and turned to face the wall. Suddenly Ayumi felt a burning flame of desire inside her heart, and couldn't help but pull his hand up back to her face. His eyes were wide with surprised, as if he was truly stunned that Ayumi would think of doing such a thing.

Their eyes stayed locked for what seemed like eyes, constantly fizzling like a fireworks show in early November. They stayed like that for what seemed like forever, none of them wanting to break the abrupt silence that had fallen between them. Predictably, Ayumi was the first to turn away; she just couldn't stand the unfamiliar tension.

"Ack...Ugh, I'm sorry about that!" she apologised, a freaked out expression on her face. "You must think I..."

"I don't think," he said softly. "I know!"

* * *

**Aaaand let's leave them to it. Just joking, more next chapter lol ^o^**

**_Review if you were like AWMAGAWD xD_**


	13. Chapter 13 - Results Part ll

**In the news this week I sprained my ankle. Again. AND I've been spending all my time learning zelda songs on the flute (please say some of you are Zelda fans ^-^) and watching Vsauce3! How eventful**

**My top three responses on the last chapter**

**AWMAGAWDDDDDDDDDD**

**Ayumi sucks I hate Ayumi she's a bitch**

**Typo u left a typo bro**

**Not exactly in that context but whatever... Ps thanks to 'AWMAGAWD' for leaving the super long review. Your so inspiring, I don't know what I'd have done with out you :P**

* * *

Things had escalated from there. They two had been scarily close to kissing; their faces practically inches away from each other. However most annoyingly, Hinoe had opened the door to check on Ayumi, for she had finished surprisingly early, just when Yoshiki was edging closer to her sister and tilting her chin slightly.

"Ayumi...chan?"

Instantly they sprung apart, Ayumi going a deeper red colour then she already was, Yoshiki on the other hand just shrugging away with his careless mask plastered on his face, though he was a little disappointed.

"Uh, Hinoe, I was just-" Ayumi started, clenching her sweaty hands with a innocent expression in her eyes but she was actually wishing she could just fall through the floor or turn invisible even for just a few minutes.

"No, I can see. Wrong moment, as always!" she replied, with a chuckle. Yoshiki raised his hand to his head, a little awkwardly embarrassed. She didn't even know him, wouldn't she be asking questions about who exactly he was, doing in Ayumi's room, practically about to kiss her?

"Anyway, I'm going to grab something to eat, so...carry on." And with that Hinoe quickly shut the door, smiling to herself. At least Ayumi had someone to cheer her up, and to the caring big sister, that was all that mattered in her mind.

Meanwhile, Yoshiki had turned back to face Ayumi who was sighing with relief, thanking god that her sister didn't ask questions.

"Well.." he mumbled, bringing his hand back up towards her cheeks. "Shouldn't you do as your sister says?"

"Eeehh...oh..." squeaked Ayumi, quirking backwards slightly at his warm touch. "I don't know if this is what I want!"

"Oh," he said, pouting slightly like a child that had just been denied cake. "We were just getting to the good part as well Shinozaki!"

"Sorry, it's just getting a bit quick for me, you know?"

"Whatever..."

"Well it's not like I've ever had a boyfriend! They all go for Nakashima, or Seiko, though Seiko just turns them all down like a spoilt brat!" she admitted, the taste in her mouth turning sour at her own words. She suddenly felt ashamed at insulting Seiko, even if she had had nothing but hatred for her until Yoshiki snapped her back into reality.

"You've never had a boyfriend?" Yoshiki almost laughed, looking at her with a sideways glance. "Are you kidding?"

"No," she huffed, crossing her arms. Why was she being so informal to him now?

"That's a surprise," he mused, not looking at her directly. "You're so beautiful, I'm shocked that no ones hit on you before me!"

Ayumi blushed a darker shade of crimson. He was so rude and careless, yet when you broke through his shell, he was kind, protective and charming.

"Too bad." came her short reply.

They sat in silence for a while, neither of them really knowing what to do at that present moment in time. Then suddenly Yoshiki seemed to have an idea, so he abruptly grabbed Ayumi's arms and smiled at her.

"Hey, you know what? I reckon I'm getting my results in the post soon!"

"Really? Well weekday post does start at around 11 ish..." she recalled, remembering the rota she had memorized several years ago for 'school'.

"That's right. What time is it now?"

"Ten to eleven..." she said, glancing at watch.

"Do you wanna come over my place then for a bit?" he asked, casually, making Ayumi's eyes open in horror.

"Er, I didn't mean it like that!" he added quickly before Ayumi started freaking out.

"Alright then. I better tell Hinoe, since I don't even have my phone anymore!"

"See, you're already regretting your actions!" he laughed, putting his own phone safely in her hands. "Give your sister my number. That way you can call her, and vice versa."

"Thanks," Ayumi said, gratefully. "Not just for the phone!"

* * *

"Yay! It's here!"

Ayumi rushed through the hallway of Yoshiki's flat and scooped up the large envelope which presumably had the results inside. Yoshiki however was just perched on the edge of the couch, waiting anxiously for the results. He didn't desperately want to get in, but he was doing it for Ayumi, mainly. If he hadn't of met Ayumi that day on the train, he'd never be doing this he realised.

"Let's see what you got on your maths test!"

Hastily, she plonked herself down beside Yoshiki, ripping the seal open with her fingers and quickly pulling out the leaflet that had his results in. The brown paper was rough against her soft skin, and she had to practically tear it down the middle just to get to it, but that was the least that was on her mind at that moment of time.

"Today is the day!" declared Ayumi. "That we find out what happens with your future! This is a milestone, a staple in your life, one that will mark you of education forever and beyond! It will-"

"Just open the flipping parcel Ayumi," he demanded, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, whatever."

She pulled out the stats sheet first, and let her eyes feast over various graphs scattered across the page. Yoshiki on the other hand just picked up the main results sheet, scanning hurriedly through the lines of text and percentage scores. He didn't care about stats or grades, he'd just leave them to Ayumi anyway, he just wanted to find out if he got into Ayumi's school or not. As soon as he saw the results, his eyes widened.

"I passed?" he laughed, shoving the paper in Ayumi's gaping face. "HAHA! I knew I was smarter then you!"

"How?" mumbled Ayumi, staring at the stats sheets. "You failed both your Literature and Science, but got 99.9% on your Maths test...!"

Now it was Yoshiki's turn to looked shocked. He only stopped when Ayumi burst out laughing, for the look on his face was just priceless like none other.

"What?" he said, confused. "What did I actually get?"

"Oh right," Ayumi giggled, surprised that Yoshiki had actually believed her. "86% in literature, I quote you have a way with words!"

"Awesome! I've never had much a high stat!"

"Don't get cocky. You only got 73% in science and a mere 56% in maths!"

"Aw. But hey, I still got in! And look," he told her, pointing towards the back of the stats sheet. "I'm in your class too!"

"Good," Ayumi approved, putting the sheets back in the envelope. "I can keep an eye on you then, to make sure you don't waste your opportunity, you only just scraped through you know!"

"Stop putting me down!" he joked, good heartedly. "You're not much better!"

"Hey! Your so rude!"

They carried on sending puny insults across the room, that might of even offended if the atmosphere wasn't so light hearted. They were both laughing, happily, smiles across their faces, especially Ayumi's. She really felt like she was in her element, the perfect place where she felt most comfortable. Yoshiki couldn't say he felt the same, but it was a whole lot better just with Ayumi by his side.

Eventually, they flopped back onto the couch, breathless but grinning still, as if someone had cursed the corners of their mouths to forever curve upwards.

Ayumi didn't even struggle when Yoshiki snaked an arm around her waist, pulled her chin towards his and stroked a finger along her cheek. She didn't care what everyone else would think anymore. She wanted to make a new start, a fresh one, and she felt more comfortable knowing that Yoshiki would be by her side.

Maybe things that don't look promising can turn out to be the best things.

* * *

**Yes that was a filler chapter I am sincerely sorry but I am very tired and busy :(**

**Next chapter will be longer I promise and I always keep my word. Most of the time. **


	14. Chapter 14 - Sorrys'

**THEY DID, M'KAY?**

**i just hate writing them because they make me cringe. I like reading them, just not writing about them, does anyone know where I'm coming from. THE FEELS ;-;**

**I've had some requests for more focus on Yoshiki but this is called 'Modern Girl' maybe some day i'll write 'Modern Boy' **

**hahahahaaaaaa NO. But I have had a request for a Mayu x Morishige based story, which is an idea, but...**

* * *

**To: Ayumi From: Sakura..?**

**Hey Shinozaki, did you get that letter that talked about the meeting today? You know, for the start of collage thingy? Text me later xx**

* * *

Ayumi was practically buzzing. Her sadness and frustration had evaporated into thin air like water, and had been replaced by a type of gushing wonder, not even Hinoe could find the reason for. Of course the fact that blonde boy had been around recently did cross her mind, but Ayumi had never had a boyfriend before, and avoided men in general, so Hinoe knew that she couldn't be to sure or accusative.

Not that she had a problem with that, no, not at all, Ayumi just might find her nosey if she looked like she intended to pry on her personal life. Instead Hinoe did what she did best, kept herself to herself, leaving Ayumi for she didn't wan't to change the mood she was in in any way. Ayumi was getting ready for school, her cheeks flushed and her mood bright. She still had a twinge of dread in the pit of her stomach, but just the thought of Yoshiki joining her school...

Shaking her head, she pulled up her socks and slipped on her shoes before making for downstairs, her school bag swinging on her shoulder. She wasn't sure how she was going to face the others today, however the abuse from the networks had eradicated quickly over the last few hours, and there were no more messages from 'unknown sender' which was a relief. At least she could walk around again with out the feeling that someone was watching her every move, even stalking her perhaps. Just the memory of the creepiness made her shiver!

"Do you want breakfast, Ayumi-chan?" Asked Hinoe, who was making herself some in the kitchen.

"Nah, I'm okay," replied Ayumi from the hallway. She rarely even ate breakfast anyway, and today wasn't an acceptation. In fact she rarely ate much at all, for she didn't need much energy to power her slight figure.

"Alright...Are you sure you okay to go to school today, since you were ill yesterday, right?" called a slightly worried Hinoe.

"Geez, stop fussing!" Ayumi brushed off with a shaky laugh. "I'm not a kid anymore! There's only six weeks till the end of term, and then i'll be off to collage!"

"Speaking about your collage, I got a letter for you!" mentioned Hinoe, her voice muffled by the fumbling of paper. "Come and read it before you go!"

"Oh," said Ayumi, rushing up to accept it. "It looks like theres a meeting, at least thats what the letter seems to say..."

"Is it tomorrow? You'll have to get the train straight after school then." Hinoe told her, grabbing a note from the draw.

"Thanks," she accepted the money gratefully. "I'll be fine, and home by, say 5 ish?"

"All right then. I think mother an father are cooking tonight, so don't be late!"

"Yes, yes, whatever."

Ayumi put the money and letter in her bag before opening the door, realising that it was actually raining.

"Aww man, i'm gonna need an umbrella!" she talked to herself, subsequently grabbing one form the coat stand in the hall. Sighing, she opened it up, watching as the crystal clear rain drops splattered slowly against the strong material of her umbrella, which was in fact blue with cherry blossom print around the edges. It was quite pretty; Mayu had given it for her birthday last year, so Ayumi had treasured it like she did with all gifts, no matter who from!

* * *

When she reached school, she was 20 minutes early, as usual, and there weren't many people around at that early time so she would mostly spend it studying alone. However she didn't feel like studying, furthermore she didn't actually have anything to study, for she did every piece of work as soon as she got it, and sometimes even a couple of days in advance.

But there was a good manga series she was reading at the moment, titled Corpse Party, or something along those lines. She felt like she could really relate to some of the characters, especially the secondary protagonist. So, deciding there was nothing else to do, Ayumi proceeded to the study room anyway to read in peace, before the hordes of students flooded through the corridors for a regular day at school.

As she entered the room, she saw someone she really didn't expect to be there. Her head was leant over an excursus book, a look of concentration on her tanned face. As Ayumi walked by, she couldn't help making eye contact with her, getting a neutral response out of the girl, no coldness in her eyes, or warmth at all. She paused as if she wanted to say something, but turned her head away, thinking the better of it. Ayumi stood there, awkwardly hovering over her, as if stuck in time, until Naomi couldn't stand it much longer.

"What do you want Shinozaki?" she asked tiredly though not looking up from her book. "if you've come to accuse me of something else, I don't want to hear it!"

"Um actually...did you really say that nasty stuff about me on Facebook?" she blurted before she could stop herself.

"Of course not," Naomi scoffed defensively, looking up to face her with honest eyes. "You know that! Even Satoshi told you, our accounts were hacked!"

"So it's true," Ayumi concluded, letting out a sigh of relief. "I'm so, so sorry."

"I forgive you," smiled Naomi easily, for she hated having fights with friends. "But you need to apologies to everyone else first."

"I know," agreed Ayumi, sitting own opposite her, slowly. "But first I want to ask you something."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Since it's not you...or Mochida, Shinohara or any of our friends, do you have any clue who has been doing it then?" she asked plainly.

"Huh," mumbled Naomi, raising Naomi. "I can't think of anyone who hates you so badly to me so mean, no one in this school hates you Ayumi."

"Maybe it's someone out side of school?"

"Perhaps? Maybe one of you college friends?" suggested Naomi, but her idea was rejected quickly with a shake of Ayumi's dismissive head.

"I don't know that that well enough, for any of them to be my good friends or my enemies," she said. "But I am going to a meeting after school to do with college."

"Oh yeah?" mused Naomi. "What for?"

"It didn't specify..."

Ayumi found herself wondering that for herself. Perhaps it was to do with the course, as certain aspects were known to change before said. Lost in her thoughts, Ayumi turned to her book, losing herself deeper in the horror mystery, and enthralling plot line. Time seemed to fly by as the two girls read, none of them breaking the peaceful silence that had fallen across the room.

It wasn't long before the bell had gone, and life erupted back into the room and corridors, and Naomi left for maths, where as Ayumi turned the other direction, for she was in a lower set then Naomi for maths, with Mayu and Satoshi. Morishige was in the top set with Naomi, and Seiko, although creative and bright, was in the bottom set but to be honest, she didn't really care about the compulsory academics, she much preferred fun subjects, and for some reason unknown to most people, sports over all.

As she walked briskly towards her classroom, she couldn't help wondering why she had hated Naomi so much. Obviously there had been the whole thing with Satoshi, but Ayumi was finding the flaws in her crush, especially with the unexpected start with Yoshiki. She blushed just remembering the kiss, and wondered if any of her friends would approve of Yoshiki. He was a delinquent after all, rough and careless, but Ayumi had definitely seen the best side of him, what with his protective air and kindness, it was as if he was a completely different person all together!

"Hey Suzomoto, Mochida," she greeted them cheerily, trying to look earnest, but their expressions were skeptical and uncertain.

"Hi.." Satoshi managed to reply out of politeness. Ayumi took a deep breath. Apologizing had been difficult with Naomi, as she had to swallow a lot of her pride in order to do so, but Satoshi and Mayu were different. For many months Ayumi had considered Satoshi her perfect match, so had always made sure she looked perfect around him, and was nice at all possible costs. As for Mayu, she considered her closer friend out of her Naomi and Seiko, for they were inseparable best friends, and was always kind to her.

"Look, i'm sorry, I was stressed and mislead when I accused you...Things just haven't been going well recently," she admitted, getting the attention of both of them.

"I can see that," Mayu said instantly. "Did you find out who actually said that stuff about you, and framed us?"

"No..."

"Don't worry about it, Shinozaki, I'm sure it will be ok..." reassured Satoshi, though personally, he had no idea who had done it as he was certain that neither him, Naomi or Seiko had done it and was pretty sure that Mayu and Morishige had nothing to do with it either.

"Thanks," she replied, though a little stiffly. "There hasn't been anything more so I think i'm okay..."

"Good." mumbled Mayu, wrapped up in her own world, daydreaming about Morishige, scripts and drama club.

"We'll have your back, no matter what!" decided Satoshi, patting her friendily on the back, before following Mayu inside to the classroom.

Usually Satoshi's friendly gestures would make her blush red and fill with pleasure, but now there was nothing. It was just a kind gesture between friends...

* * *

**I'm sorry it took her that long to realise. I'm just basing it of her character, KAY?**

**And remember it's not goodbye;**

**Its see you later**

**(your pretty darn awesome)**


	15. Chapter 15 - We meet Again!

**AW MAAAN! All the drama over the corpse party fanfic fandom at the moment D: if you follow most of the corpse party stories, you'll know what i mean...**

**Meanwhile****, I am sorry for not uploading in a while. I always used to get annoyed when my fave fanficts weren't uploaded daily, but i now know how difficult it can be to reach that deadline**. **I am finding this story very difficult to write, as you can ****probably**** tell by the lack of updates and I am sorry. But some people will say that 'oh thats easy, and AU?"**

**Well for this you have to come ****completely**** a fresh, like you are writing your own story. Just with the characters, obviously.**

**ENJOY ANYWAY :3**

* * *

Yoshiki had insisted on all accounts that he accompany her to the collage meeting, even though she had protested that she could do it on her own; she had gone plenty of times before by herself with no problem! However he was so determined, that she didn't bother trying to brush him off, so met him by the station before the train arrived. He was grinning, hands in his pockets as always, making Ayumi feel a little calmer at his own relaxed body language. She still had no idea why there was a meeting, but she had her doubts. What if it had been a mistake, choosing her over someone else, someone better maybe? She had worked so hard to get the place, going to extra classes after school just to improve and refine her skills. What if all that effort was for nothing?

Yoshiki noticed the furrowed brow on her face and nervous expression, wondering what was on her mind. Perhaps she was worried about the sudden meeting? Or maybe it was...him being there.

"You alright, Ayumi?" he asked, waving his hand in front of her face with a nervous smile. "Your miles away!"

"Uh, it's nothing don't worry," she insisted, though her eyes had drifted far away from his. "I'm fine!"

"If you say so!" he replied, with a careless shrug, but inside he was curious and also concerned as well.

Ayumi glanced at the train as it came into view, getting larger the closer it came to the platform. There was ten, twenty people around her including herself and Yoshiki. Sakura must have gotten another train, after all she didn't live in the same neighbourhood as Ayumi and the others. The fairly large train came to a halt, thrusting it's doors open hurriedly, almost greeting the new passengers and bidding farewell to the leaving ones with a merry whistle. They waited politely for everyone to leave, before joining the other passengers as well as the remaining ones on the middle carriage.

For most of the journey the two were quiet, Ayumi lost in her thoughts, where as Yoshiki was feeling rather bored and had hoped that she would of at least made an effort to make conversation with him as he had taken time out of what he could be using to work to travel with her. Thinking about it, she hadn't even asked him to come, he had kind of invited himself along, reckoning she would like it and be secretly pleased. However this didn't seem to be the case unfortunately.

"Are ya gonna talk to me or what?" he eventually broke the silence, with a half grin, half glare. "I'm not gonna sit here in silence the whole time, ya know..."

'Sorry..." she sighed, turning away from the window to face him. "I've just got a bad feeling about the meeting!"

Yoshiki celebrated silently in his head. Of course he was worried that she was worried, but he was relived that he wasn't the reason!

"Oh yeah?" he perked up. "What's up?"

"It's a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach," she explained, looking thoughtful. "I only get this feeling when something bad has happened, like when I got those...and when I confronted Nakashima!"

"Are you upset?"

"No. But I can't come up with a logical reason why I feel this way!" she said, frustrated.

"Well, you don't have a reason!" he told her, edging nearer towards her. "I'm here, right? That makes it perfect!"

Instead of the smile he expected from her, she shot him a poisonous glare like daggers flying through the air.

"Sheesh! I was only joking, you know!"

"Whatever. What are you going to do whilst i'm at the meeting, Yoshiki?" she changed the subject.

"How long is it exactly?"

"It doesn't specify. I'll text you though..."

"Alright." finished Yoshiki, slightly annoyed at her harshness as they reached the stop they had to get off. "I'll have a look at the music shops then."

Ayumi nodded in approval as she left the train and Yoshiki, wishing she hadn't been so harsh. She couldn't help it though, since she really did have a bad feeling about the whole meeting. No one had even mentioned it, it didn't even say on the paperwork that there was additional problems that required a group meeting! But things could change quickly, she knew all too well!

She walked past the familiar shops, towards the large building in front of her. Glancing at the front display of one music shop, she was sure Yoshiki wouldn't have much trouble entertaining himself for half an hour or so, or however long the meeting would taking. All the while, she could be studying at home!

The steps of the grand building were just a few steps away, but two familiar voices, one posh and one bubble, snapped her out of her daze ever so slightly.

"So Haruka, whats this about _anyway?"_ Sakura asked, her voice bright though inquisitive.

"Ugh! Don't ask me, I know i'm highly intelligent, but I cannot answer all the worlds questions Sakura!" the other replied with an obvious tone of cockiness underlying in her dismissive words.

"Sakura!" called Ayumi, instantly getting the two girls' attention. "Hey!"

"Hey there Shinozaki!" greeted Sakura with a smile, though Hakura shunned her with a straight face. "Oh," she continued, glancing at the girl beside her. "Have you two met?"

"Yes, actually," the girl said with a smirk, looking Ayumi up and down, as if scouring for her flaws. "We know each other very well!"

"We do?" echoed Ayumi, glaring at her. "I barely remember you complaining about the air conditioning..."

"Oh, ah, Shinozaki...This is Haruka Tsuji, If you, um, forgot." introduced Sakura quickly, trying to avoid tension between the seemingly already acquaintances.

"Yeah, I know."

"And your Ayumi Shinozaki, I presume? Shame on missing out the scholar ship!"

Ayumi glared at her fiercely striding away from her as well as Sakura.

"I got it, by the way!"

"Of course you did," laughed Ayumi, running now. There was something about Haruka that made her feel unsafe and uneasy, almost like a weird presence.

"Ah come on guys! We all got in!" Sakura said, trying to smile, though she felt like slapping Hakura; she had always been an arrogant so and so, making people feel bad about themselves, ever since she could talk she had expressed her own interest in herself.

"Why are you friends with her anyway?" spat Ayumi, close to the entrance. "Doesn't she upset you?"

"I don't have a choice," Sakura told her, leaving Hakura behind to catch up with Ayumi. "It's not like I can't hang out with her, no matter if I like her or not?"

"How come?"

"We're cousins, and my mother and hers are very close twins," she sighed, panting as she caught up with Ayumi. "We've been forced to attend loads of family events together, and let's say I hate it."

"But your nice to her..." said Ayumi, leaving against one of the large podiums that supported the building. "You don't have to be friends!"

"Oh it's easier to be nice then mean," Sakura stated wearily, standing back up straight as Haruka approached. "Don't take her words personally, she's like this to everyone, even me and my brother so don't get worked up about it Shinozaki!"

"Who said I was _getting worked up_?" Ayumi laughed it off shakily. "I'm just a bit nervous. Do you know what this is about?"

"I don't have a clue!"

"Oh. By the way, how did you_ cousin_...Get the scholar ship?" Ayumi couldn't help asking as she entered the door._  
_

"I actually have no idea," confessed Sakura, looking at the floor with worried eyes. "She is awful at art!"

"_What?!_"

"Hakura is very gifted academically, especially with maths and computing. At school though, she was extremely competitive amongst the students, even me."

"Why on earth would she apply for this collage then, anyway?" Questioned Ayumi, very confused indeed. "If she had no talent for art at all?"

"Well, a couple of months ago she found out my brother was writing his children's book, and I mentioned he needed an illustrator, and that that was my dream. Instantly just like with anything, she presumed that she was perfect for the job, and came out here just to prove my brother wrong." she explained, with multiple hand gestures, as she followed Ayumi into the large hall.

"What did your brother do to make her like that then?"

"Don't you like your questions, Shinozaki," Sakura said, testily, getting a little irrupted. Sakura just wasn't the person to speak badly about other people, or relay the past to anyone.

"Please?"

"He told her that she was 'useless at art, and that she should stick to computer programming like a good little nerd and stay out of his way'. She blew up after that, ran all the way home. Then she came back like a different person, all fired up just to spite my brother!"

"How pathetic, when It's your dream that you've worked hard more!" said Ayumi clenching her fists. "I know, but I have to deal with it, Shinozaki!"

* * *

**Bam bam bam, betcha didn't see that coming.**

**hint hint.**

_**Remember to follow, fave and review if you enjoyed! And if you like me, follow/fave me if you feel like it! BYEEE**_


	16. Chapter 16 - How strange

**Ack! Sorry if the last chapter was bad...?**

**I aim to please so do let me know if it was bad, because I wasn't really sure about it. This story is going to conclude fairly soon as I know I can't get much more out of an AU especially with a not very complex plot. But I wasn't planning on making it too long, I mean we are on chapter 16 already. And this has been going on for almost three months. Wow, 3? Oh my gosh time goes sooo fast am I right? Apart from when your at school, obviously. A few of you got part of it that I think I made it veeeery obvious. But no ones got the second but yet.**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter! :3**

* * *

The small crowd of students inside the college were chatting quietly amongst themselves, all of them confused about why they had been called to the collage so spontaniously. A few people had some theories, but no one officially knew why they were there. The receptionists ignored them completely, their eyes glued to their monochrome computers and their expressions bored, and slightly sulky. Ayumi wasn't sure, however, assumed that they knew why they were being gathered as none of them made a comment or bothered to help. Gosh how she'd hate to be a recpetionist, even in a beautiful building like the one she was in now!

Ayumi was standing idilly next to Sakura, and most annoyingly for her, her cousin Haruka. She was looking at the other students, her face turned up in a ugly smirk, making Ayumi want to puke. In all honesty, she felt very sorry for Sakura being related to her. What a bore it must be at family meet ups!

"Hey, Shinozaki, are you alright?" asked Sakura, who had a decidedly anxious look on her face. Ayumi looked up and nodded with a small smile, but secretly she willed to go up to the lazy receptionists and ask them what was going on.

"Should I talk to the recpectionists?" wondered Ayumi out loud, not looking in any particular direction.

"Well, that would be quicker then just standing around here," replied Sakura, thinking that Ayumi was serious. "I'll go if you want..."

"Okay..."

Ayumi felt a buzz go off in her jacket pocket as she turned in the direction Sakura was walking in. Hesitating a little, she took her phone out and clicked on messages, quickly realising it was nothing but a text from Yoshiki, asking how long she would be. Hurriedly she told him about the situation and if it was much longer, he could leave without her, however the text she got back was defiant and if anything, a little rude. Just like Yoshiki himself, really!

Sakura was at the desk now, trying to get the attention of one of the recptionist, a ditzy blonde looking one, who was drinking from a large coffee cup.

"Excuse me, but is there a place we're meant to meet the course leaders?" Sakura questioned rather loudly, pointing to the others who were watching on. "About, uh, this meeting thing?"

"Oh," she replied, not battering an eyelash. "Umm, try the second floor waiting room on teh left. They'll be there probably..."

"Thank you very much," Sakura smiled, but inside she was cursing the woman. So she knew where they were meant to be all along, did they? Oh well, at least they were going somewhere.

"Everyone, second floor!" she shouted to the group, pointing in the direction of the nearest staircase.

"Oh yeah," said some one in the crowd. "That's were we went for the interviews right?"

"I think so. Come on!"

Everyone followed Sakura up the stairs, turning at the waiting rooms, before spotting the three interviewers they had seen on the day they had had their individual assesments. A few people were still talking, but they were quickly shushed by others as the trio of interviewers drew nearer to them.

"Hi everyone. Sorry for not really specifying on the letter, as this rarely happens," began the woman, Hoshi, with a gentle smile.

"You've got nothing to worry about, we've just got a few additional requirements and forms we need you to fill out to post back to us." explained the middle man, with a slight nod.

"It's just a small change in things for your illustration course, but it shouldn't make a huge impact on your placements or results or anything!" added the last man, looking relaxed.

"Okay, come and collect the forms, there, in the front desk just around the corner."

"Okay," chourused the crowd. "Thanks!"

Sakura and Ayumi fell into the current of the others, exchanging confused, and worried glances with each other. How odd, Ayumi thought, a grave look on her face, if they just wanted to let us know there was a change in requirements or whatever they've done, shouldn't they of just posted them, it would of been far more easier!

"What was that about?" she found herself asking Sakura, who simply shrugged in reply.

"It's probably just like he said. Nothing to worry about!" she said, optimisticly with a beam. She wasn't too sure herself, but it wasn't likely that something dramatic had happened, or something enough to make them lose a place.

"I wouldn't be too sure," butted in Haruka, looking a little concerned herself. "It must be important if we had to come here personally!"

"That's true," Ayumi agreed, staring at the floor. "I don't know..."

* * *

As soon as they had reciveed the forms, Ayumi left to find Yoshiki, who was presumibly in some music store, or maybe a video game shop. She eventually found him outside a chip shop, leaning against the wall, looking slightly bored. His sharp grey eyes lit up the second she came into view, though his body language stayed careless, just as always when he was around anyone.

"Sorry I kept you waiting," she apoligised, a little breathlessly. "I couldn't find you!"

"S'okay!" he replied grinning, tucking his arm into hers. "Anything particularly drastic happen whilst you were gone."

"Not really," she said, frowning a little. "We were just given these forms about...something or other. I don't know really!"

"Oh okay then. C'mon, you can read them in the train!"

She followed him through the short distance to the station, gripping the papers in her free hand, trying not to over think things. Ayumi didn't really want to read it and decided it would be better if she let her parents, or at least Hinoe read it first before she jumped to conclusions, which was what she did often, and was quite shamed of, especially in the last few days! They got there just in time, snagging the last two seats at the back on the carriage, their cheeks glowing from running quite quickly.

"So," Ayumi started up a conversation, trying to look cool and confident. "Did you see anything you liked in the shops?"

"Yeah!" he nodded, looking out of the window. "There were some epic guitars in the window display, mostly electric, and some great new horror movies in the DVD store. Saying that, you like horror movies, don't you?"

"Yes actually!" she replied, surprised he even knew that about her. He probably knew more about her then Mayu, or Satoshi! "I love anything horror, especially Manga and Video games."

"Personally i'm not to big on reading," Yoshiki said, even though he knew Manga was mostly pictures. He just thought that anything that displayed text - that wan't music, video games or social media, was boring and not worth his time, as well as anything remotely intellectual, most unlike Ayumi's choice in books.

"Oh. School's going to suck for you then!"

"What can I say?" laughed Yoshiki, half heartedly. "School's always sucked for me!"

It was true, Yoshiki had never enjoyed any form of education, from elementary to high school. He had gotten out of it as soon as it was legal, and would often bunk off the weeks leading to the time he was old enough to leave. There was nothing there for him there, just sheets of work he didn't understand, jeering other guys who were probably just like him, and of course, teachers who would always sigh and shake their heads at him whenever he did any work at all. Before Ayumi, there was no point in school

"Then why did you take the entrance exam for Kisaragi?" pointed out Ayumi, wondering why for herself. Yeah, she got that he wanted a better future, but there was no point doing something that he didn't enjoy, right?

"Oh Ayumi, isn't it obvious?" he said, looking at her with slightly sad eyes.

"No."

"Ugh... it's because your there! I thought I couldn't of made it anymore obvious to you! I've joined Kisaragi High because you're there, you knuckle head. And you say your smarter then me!"

"Oh..." was all she could muster, ducking her face behind her blue black hair in slight embarrassment. She could already feel her cheeks burning pink from his works. Did he really join Kisiragi just for her?

* * *

**No he did it for the food**

* * *

**Sorry, short chapter. See ya wednesday ****hopefully.**

**xoxoxox**


	17. Chapter 17 - What?

**Yo! whats up guys! We're coming to the end of the the story guys, it's been a good journey with ups and downs but i have enjoyed it, and I hope you guys have as well. I haven't been uploading regularly as I would of liked but that's just a pain and I no that you guys like be being quite quick, but you know other things come first!**

**It will be at least 20 chapters long guys. That's about three more chapters, am i right? Keep up the reviews guys, they make my day remember! Even if I only get one new review or follow (or even a fave sometimes :P) they still motivate me to carry on writing :3**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

"Hmmm... change in the course?"

Murmured Hinoe as her soft, round eyes scanned over the letter Ayumi had supposedly been given from the odd meeting at her soon to be college. As Hinoe read out the contents quite loudly so Ayumi could hear, since she could tell Ayumi had yet to read it. However, she noticed that her little sister was miles away, simply staring into endless space with one hand supporting her tilted chin. Her eyes were clouded and very distant, even as Hinoe waved her hand slowly in front of her, trying to get her attention.

The truth was Ayumi was far away, day dreaming bout one person. That's right, you guessed it, Yoshiki. She couldn't get over how much she had changed in a short few months, ever since she had met him. Sure there had been bad, awful things that had happened, though mostly on her fault rather then anyone else's actually. But there had mostly been good things, right?

Like the time they had coke in the park, or revising for Yoshiki's entrance exams together at his tiny yet quite cosy flat. He as a person had changed her so much, not just in her opinions of Satoshi, himself or even Naomi. Now she respected Naomi, was just friends with Satoshi, and maybe, she'd learn to return his rather obvious feelings towards her.

"Ayumi-chan? Ayuuuuumi-chan?" she repeated, getting a little irritated. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Of course..." she mumbled in reply, still not shifting from her dreamy position.

"What did I say then?"

"You don't have to act like me mum you know!" snapped Ayumi, suddenly turning back to attention with a slight glare. "Your not that much older then me..."

"That's no excuse, what did I say Ayumi?"

"You said that there was a change in course as well as stating several things about my status on the course." she bleated out as if she had been listening all along when of course, she hadn't been really paying attention much.

"Just because you heard me doesn't mean you were listening," sighed Hinoe as she she sat beside Ayumi, slightly creased letter still in her hand. "Now, there's just something I want to point out, Ayumi-chan."

"What is it?"

"You did get a place, didn't you?" Hinoe asked, eyes flickering back and forth from the paper to Ayumi's direction.

"Yeah, why?" Ayumi replied, wondering why on earth she was asking her that now. Surely she had a place, no, she had a place, or she would of never received the letter from the collage anyway.

"Oh, good. You never told me it was a scholarship though!" smiled Hinoe, getting up again as she had just heard the door bell go. Probably one of her clients coming to pick up a spiritual item or two.

"What? I didn't get a scholarship..." Ayumi exclaimed, with a frown. What was Hinoe talking about, had she made a mistake reading it or something?

"Sorry, I have a client out side Ayumi-chan, I won't be too long," dismissed Hinoe as she quickly departed from the kitchen. "Why don't you read the letter whilst I'm gone?"

With a swish of her hair Hinoe was out of sight, and Ayumi was left sitting at the table, her mouth opened wide with a puzzled expression, you could say. There was only one way to check that Hinoe's words were true, she had to read the letter.

Most of it was boring stuff like how the course was changing slightly, and although Ayumi did read through it, none of it was particularly significant to her, or at least nothing that would effect her future or anything. As her eyes skimmed through the rest of the page, she noticed the profile box situated in the bottom left corner. It had a picture of her on it, as well as her full name and birthdate. Also it had her contact details on it, as would any standard profile form. It stated what course she was taking, her conformed tutor, and the type of place she had.

Her eyes lit up at the word she read next, her heart beating faster than ever.

Place: Scholarship

She couldn't believe it. Her, a scholarship? Really? But it was clear on her results that she had just gotten a regular place, and they wouldn't of just changed their minds like that, would they? A hundred scenarios' popped up in her mind, going from they accidentally put she had gotten a scholarship, or she had the wrong letter. The latter was unlikely, as all the contact info was up to date and correct. Maybe she was truly the owner of the scholarship! Ayumi was over the moon, but of course, just as always, there was the gnawing feeling of doubt at the bottom at her heard.

Rushing up to her room, she made a dive for the spot she would always put her phone ready, but found her hands closing around something spiky and cracked. Of course, how could she forget, she threw it out of the window the other day.

Her heart sang; she honestly began to regret her stubborn actions. Now she had no way at all to contact Yoshiki, Mayu, Sakura or any of her other friends or social networks. She realised how much that sucked now.

"Oh well...I guess I'll have to wait till tomorrow at school huh..."

* * *

"Hey, Mochida-kun!"

"Hi Shinozaki, are you okay?"

"I'm good. Hello Naomi..."

"Morning, class rep!"

"Don't for get Seiko!"

"No one would forget you, you're so freaking loud!"

"Don't be so harsh Shige!"

The group of friends were gathered together outside the main hall, smiling through the chilly breeze thank whipped around their cheeks. It was finally seeming to feel normal again, all of them hanging out together again, all friends again, with not one hint of hatred, though there were a few awkward moments between Ayumi and Naomi. However Seiko, Satoshi and Mayu were light hearted enough to brush it off quickly and cheer everyone up again. Ayumi was so relieved, as she was so close to losing them, and really didn't want to, plus they had reminded her how they were so great. They made her feel good about herself, just like true friends should. And Mayu, Morishige, Seiko, Satoshi and Naomi were all proving to be great to her.

And as for Yoshiki...

"Oh, look there's Kishinuma-kun!" called out Mayu as she spotted the bleach blonde boy emerging from a crowd of blushing fan girls who he seemed to have not really noticed, or at least not have paid attention to. He was wearing the standard uniform, but instead of having his black jacket buttoned up to the top, it was completely undone, with a white shirt similar to Satoshi's also undone slightly at the top. Ayumi could tell he hadn't made much of a effort to get ready, but all the same she had to admit he looked extremely fit. Now wonder all those girls were surrounding him.

"Hey," he greeted them, though his eyes were on Ayumi, making her blush.

"Hi man," grinned Satoshi, slapping his hand. "It's so great that you got in mate!"

"Thanks," he smiled, but Ayumi didn't dare look back up at him as she was sure he was still looking at her. "It's nice to meet you, er, probably."

"Hi, I'm Seiko!" yelled Seiko, rushing in front of Ayumi. "And this is my best friend Naomi, the most beautiful- mhmmmm!"

"Uh, I'm Naomi," butted in Naomi with a hand over her crazy best friends moth, grimacing. "Naomi Nakashima."

"Oh your Naomi..."

"Huh?"

"Oh nothing!"

"I'm Suzomoto Mayu, but you can call me Mayu of course. This is Shige!" Mayu introduced with a cute smile.

"Morishige Sakutaro, actually," muttered Morishige, but he wasn't really heard as Naomi was still restraining Seiko.

"My names Yoshiki Kishinuma, and that's about it..." he said with a wink. "Of course you don't need to introduce yourself to me, Shinozaki," he continued, giving her a special small smile.

"Uh..."

"Was that the bell?"

"SEIKO, GET OFF ME YOU- ACK!"

"This is chaotic isn't?" mused Yoshiki. "Just the way I like it..."

* * *

**WOOHOO**


	18. Chapter 18 - But?

**Did everyone have a good Halloween? I had an awesome half term with lots of sleepover. (And homework) so I have been absent for a while. But hey, pretty much everyone else has been gone as it is that time of year guys! Also I've been watching Naruto since Semptember and I can clearly say there will be a fanfic soon. Yay. Anyway sticking with corpse party...**

* * *

"Ha ha, Seiko your jokes get me every time!" giggled Mayu as the four girls burst into the corridor of Naomi's house. The all tried to fit through the door way together (much to Naomi's distaste) however, that seemed impossible, so with one big push, Naomi forced herself and Seiko in, with , Mayu, and a rather quiet Ayumi following them, laughing along with Seiko's giggles.

"You have to make everything ten times difficult don't you Seiko!" exclaimed Naomi irratibly, wiping her brow with the back of her hand. "Geez…"

"Aw, lighten up Naomi! It was just some fun!" Seiko smiled in return, flushing slightly at Naomi's harsh tone.

"Sorry, it's just a bit annoying!"

"I agree," Ayumi piped up, crossing her arms. "Seiko, you should really give people space, especially if it's someone elses hosuse!"

Naomi blinked, slightly taken aback my Ayumi's words. Was Ayumi sticking up for her, even if she didn't really need defending as Seiko was only being silly, really. After a brief silence, Naomi's mother entered the room, with a plate of cutely iced cookies, big and round. Seiko's eyes instantly lit up as she rushed over to Naomi's mother, licking her lips with glee.

"Wow, Ms Nakashima!" she cried with happiness. "These look great! Did you ice them yourself?"

"Yes actually!" beamed Naomi's mother, who was pleased to see her daughter's best friend so enthusiastic over her sweet treats. "But they're for everyone mind, so do share them out equally!"

"Of course! We'll have to save some for the boys though," murmered Mayu, considerably with a nod.

"Naomi," her mother called to her. "You didn't mention that boys were coming!"

"Oh, um, just a group from our school mum, two or three. You know Satoshi, and you remember Morishige, right?" explained Naomi, with a hopeful smile.

"Oh yes, Mochida-kun! He's very sweet; his younger sister is delightful as well! I suppose it would be okay, just don't do anything-"

"Alright mum!" Naomi cringed, walking towards the stairs. "Let's go up, the boys will be here soon."

"Don't forget the Cookies!"

Ayumi watched quietly as she saw the three girls, laugh smile and giggle over something as they followed eachother up the stairs. Naomi's mother noticed that she had yet to move yet, and felt a little sorry for the girl as she looked quite out of place.

"Shinoazki-san, are you feeling alright?" She asked with aconcerned voice. "You look rather pale."

"Oh," said Ayumi, snapping back to attention with wide eyes. "I'm fine, honestly. Just lost in thought, that's all."

"Okay dear, why don't you join the others, and would you mind giving this to Naomi?" her motherreplied, pressing something cold and metallic into her hands. "She left it down here!"

"Oh, sure," she smiled, before turning away. Already hundreds of ideas were circling around in her head, ranging from drastic to petty, but they all involved the phone. This was the opportunity she was waiting for! She could check her history, to see if she had in fact posted those things, or maybe even look through her texts. It was just a few clicks away, just to check and secure Naomi's reasons. It was so tempting…

Upstairs she could hear the circles laughing, clearly having fun. Downstairs she could see the boys entering the house, in the corner of her eye. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she stood, frozen in her position awkwardly on the stairs, the phone clenched in her hand, giving off a gentle blue glow. Her mind was conflicted, she could barely think. No, she just needed to give it to Naomi, that was clearly the logical option! But curiousity burned like fire inside of her, making her question her own opinions and thoughts.

Suddenly, she felt a strong arm snake around her, warm and reassuring against her cold skin. But Yoshiki's face was not one of sympathy, it was sharp and questioning, with a hint of frustration, and even surprise.

"You weren't seriously going to do it, were you?" he asked quietly, whispering in her ear. "Look through her stuff?"

"Of course not!" she denied, turning bright red, her heart fluttering. "Get of me!"

"Okay," he replied, snatching the phone out of her hand with a grin, before running up the stairs, grabbing her hand in the process. "Nakashima, I think this is yours."

"Oh yeah, thank you Kishinuma-kun!" smiled Naomi, taking it off him quickly, though she was not seemingly suspicious. "I left it downstairs!"

Mayu giggled as Yoshiki sat down beside Ayumi, staring at her hands, before shaking her head, telling herself Morishige was the only one for her!

"Hey guys!" Yelled Satoshi as he walked through the door, a charismatic beam* on his face. "Did I miss much?"

"Miss much?" commented Morishige behind him, as he too entered the room. "Ms Nakashima herself told us we were within minutes of each other!"

"Whatever!" Laughed Seiko, suddenly seeing that Satoshi was signalling to her in some way, his eyes intently on hers.

"What is it Seiko?" Asked Naomi, curious about why her friend was being abnormally quiet. Seiko giggled, jumping up from her place on the bed, next to Naomi.

"Ah oh nothing Naomi-san! Aha, I thought I'd just catch up with Shinozaki, since we haven't really talked much recently!" She cried, over dramatically, rushing over to Ayumi, who was extremely confused at Seiko's odd behaviour.

Confidently, Satoshi strode over to Naomi, hands in his pockets, and took Seiko's place beside Naomi.

"So.."

"Satoshi, I think Seiko was sitting there," began Naomi, but was stopped abruptly by Seiko's loud voice,

"OH! But can't you see Naomi, Im having a very important conversation," she told Naomi, before leaning close to Ayumi, almost so close that Yoshiki had to put a protective arm around Ayumi, just in case.

"Just go with it okay? I think Satoshi wants some~~!" She whispered, though a Seiko whisper wasn't exactly quiet.

"Oh...Okay..."

"Ah, just carry on as usual!"

"What was all that about?" Quipped Satoshi, giving Naomi a sideways glance.

"I don't know..." sighed Naomi, leaning back on her bed, arms stretched and yawning. "I don't know what she's on about half the time!"

Yoshiki observed the couple from the other side of the room, looking at how happy Naomi was around Satoshi, and how relaxed he seemed with his effortless charisma. It was much harder for Yoshiki to be so confident though...

Morishige and Mayu were talking their mouths out about some drama piece; Mayu looked inspired and uplifted just hearing Morishige talk about his part, the passion in his voice really shone through. To him it was obvious Mayu liked him, more then a sibling type relationship. But he wouldn't just cast it away as a hopeless crush, as alone, Morishige was quite reserved, however when with Mayu he was far more open and generally happier. He had definitely seen the change from just a minute ago.

"Woah, Kishinuma-kun..." mumbled Seiko, looking straight at him. "I don't know you, but you look pretty intense right now! And what's with the staring, are you a creeper or what?"

"Your the one in love with you best friend," he stated, rolling his eyes with a bored look. "Of course, who am I to judge?"

"Hey!" Seiko shouted, going bright red. "You can't just say things like that!"

"It's true..."

"Hey Seiko," called Naomi, not wanting to cause conflict. "Why don't you come talk to me?"

"Okay," Replied Seiko, but not before turning around and pulling an unpleasantly silly face at Yoshiki as she left, which was followed by a mildly apologetic glance from Naomi.

"What's up?" Asked Ayumi, unsettled by Yoshiki's tensed jaw and narrowed eyes. "Yoshiki...?"

"I love you," he said, unexpectedly, turning towards her with smiling eyes, and a sheepish grin on his face. "Okay?"

"Um, yeah, I love you too, obviously, but-" she replied, feeling her heart speed up and her words stutter.

"But what?"

"But..." she gulped, their eyes locked.

"No buts, Ayumi..."

Yoshiki could see Seiko from the corner of his eye, looking directly at them with wide eyes. She wasn't going to ruin the moment...!

"I'm sorry," Seiko announced, standing up. All eyes were on her now, just as she had planned. "But please..."

Everyone held their breath with the suspense of what she was going to say next. Was it a joke perhaps? Or a serious accusation? Actually, could Seiko make a serious accusation?

"JUST KISS ALREADY!"

"You didn't have to hold me up!" Retorted Yoshiki, glaring at her.

"Yoshiki..."

"Yes I'm aware everyone is staring at us," Yoshiki said, turning back towards her, his face suddenly kind and kind of reassuring. "But..."

Yoshiki leaned over and kissed her, making Ayumi's heart beat even faster than when he had kissed her before, and that was only ever brief and shy, even a little clumsy. However now he was sweet, passionate and kind...

"WHOOP DE WHOOP!" yelled Seiko, but Yoshiki clamped his free hand over Seiko's mouth, not looking away from Ayumi.

"Mfffffmfmmmmmm!"

* * *

**I am like Seiko in so many ways! - when you see your OTP! Awmagawd...**


	19. Chapter 19 - Unknown Number Returns?

**Yo! Was gonna upload yesterday but...**

* * *

"Only one more week at school...!" sqeauled Seiko, pulling Naomi down the corridor with a huge grin. "Then we're FREE!"

"Only for some time, Seiko. Are you really sure you know what you want to do?" asked Ayumi doubtfully, glancing wearily at the excited girl's face.

"Of course!" Seiko replied with glee. "I'll do whatever Naomi-san is doing, we'll stick together until the end!"

"But Seiko, I applied ages ago for the nursing school. I don't think you can just turn up!" Naomi explained, though she felt a little bad for Seiko. Seiko wasn't particularly amazing at anything, apart from the fact that she was very positive around anyone, and always understood anyones feelings. She was optimistic, kind hearted, and great around all types of people, even if they were mean to her or rough.

"Oh well, I'll find something else," murmured Seiko, though not very disheartened. She had an unbreakable bond with her best friend, and would do anything to keep it for the rest of her life.

The three girls were about to leave the school, final exams all done and marked, their grades given and confirmed. The next week would be fun, not much work to do at all. In fact, Mayu and Morishige had already left Kisiragi, preparing to go to a specialised Drama College together in another town. Ayumi and the others would miss them, but they still had a strong connection with them, with texts and social networking. Now; Ayumi felt a little left out, as Yoshiki and Satoshi were turning out to be really good mates, and Seiko was inseparable from Naomi. They'd let her tag a long with group work, but it was pair work, she'd often have to go with someone else. Yoshiki and Naomi would often shoot her apologetic and sympathetic looks, but she'd just smile and get on with her work. None of them were over intelligent - excluding Naomi, and they'd just talk with her and drag her down anyway.

"Satoshi!" called Naomi, whose sharp eyes had spotted Satoshi's brown mop of hair. "Over here!"

Satoshi looked up and grinned, ushering Yoshiki to follow him towards the girls, who didn't hesitate. Over the few weeks he had been at Kisaragi, his grades had gone up significantly (due to long revision sessions with his forever demanding girlfriend) and was getting on well with everyone, and was relived that they had accepted him as part of the group, even if he had made it an odd number.

"Hey," he replied, hugging her quickly, making her blush. "Half a week...I can't wait to leave!"

"Urrrr, you're lucky Mochida-kun," complained Seiko, pulling a jelous face at him. "Why do you get to leave early?"

"I'm going to work part time at a publishers. I'm actually planning on maybe writing a novel or two!" he revealed with a nervous smile.

"Uuuuughhh," Seiko moaned over Satoshi's sweet voice. "Not fair!"

"Why don't you be a phycologist?" suggested Yoshiki, with a shrug. "You're a people person, right?"

"OH MY GOSH KISHINUMA-KUN!" Seiko squeaked, hugging him roughly. "You're the best? Uh...What does that do?"

"You help people with their feelings and stuff," explained Seiko, frustratedly pulling Seiko off of Yoshiki, gripping his hand protectively. Yoshiki didn't look dazed, but he was secretly pleased that she had reacted like that. Cute. "It's perfect for you!"

"Let's go, okay?" bleated Naomi, feeling quite exasperated. "Come one guys..."

* * *

After hanging out at Naomi's again for a while, Ayumi headed back to her house, Yoshiki in town feeling pretty great. Hinoe and her parents had chipped in to give her a brand new phone and case after the news of the somewhat unexplained scholarship news, which she thanked them gratefully for, even though she was still a bit wary with using it so often now. She had created new accounts for everything, just to minimise the chance for the hacking and mean messages send to her earlier. She was also more careful with who she have her number to; only giving it to family and close friends like Yoshiki, Satoshi and the rest of the gang as well as Sakura and a few other students she had made friends with from the college. Yoshiki had been really supportive over the whole thing, and didn't once criticise her which made her feel wanted and good.

They were sat in her room now, listening to music through joint earphones and chatting about random, stupid stuff that seemed so meaningless, yet she knew these were the things she seemed to remember the most, their silly goofy conversations that led to flirty, funny looks that made Ayumi want to either snigger out loud or blush the deepest possible shade of red.

Ayumi was speeding through her new, filtered feed of news, some from Naomi who was hanging out with Seiko (as expected) and there was no nasty stuff, making Ayumi feel a bit happier. Suddenly, a low note of her new ringtone jingled, making her feel slightly unnerved, but only people she knew could text her.

To: Ayumi From: Sakura

Hey Ayumi, how are you doing?

Smiling in reassurence, she quickly texted back feeling normal again.

We should meet up soon. I'm good, by the way.

Ping another text. Ayumi opened the window of the short conversation exchange she'd just had with Sakura. Something abruptly struck her as odd. There was nothing there in the window, just her short reply in text. How strange, perhaps some one else had texted her.

"You okay?" asked Yoshiki considerably with a concerned look as she looked a bit confused and worried. "No one's bothering you at all?"

"Oh, of course not, I'm just talking to Sakura," she replied a bit too quickly, blushing slightly.

"Oh okay..."

Opening the text window, she realised the text was from some one she didn't actually know. The eiree title simply said 'unknown number'. Shivering, Ayumi felt a sick feeling at the bottom of her stomach, seriously considering throwing her phone out of the window, as she dreaded to know what the message said. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and clicked on the text, swallowing hard as she squinted her eyes open to read it, even though she really didn't want to know it's awful contents.

To: Me From: Unknown number

Hey Ayumi! It's Sakura here! We haven't spoken in ages, let's hang out soon?

"So it was a message from Sakura after all..." muttered Ayumi under her breath, but unfortunately loud enough for Yoshiki to hear.

"What do you mean Ayumi?" he questioned, a bit more worried now. "Who is that from?"

"Sakura," she replied frowning. "But she just texted me a second ago on a different number!"

"That's strange. One of them must be impersonating her, that's what it looks like," he suggested seriously. "This cyber stuff just isn't leaving you is it?"

"No," she admitted, biting her lip. "What should I do?"

"Call the new number," he told, her with a trustworthy smile, which to Ayumi was worth a thousand words of simple reassurance. "You know her voice, right?"

"Yeah. I'll call the new number first," she replied, Yoshiki squeezing her hand supportively. "Alright,"

She dialled the number and held her breath. It was a few moments before the speaker buffed out a bit on the receiving end.

"Helllloooo?"

"Sakura?" she whispered down the line a little shakily. "Is that you?"

"Sure it is!" Sakura's bubbly voice echoed down the line. "I should of given you my number ages ago but I kept forgetting! I'm so scatterbrained sometimes!"

"Oh...Who have I been texting then?" she said, her heart beating fast.

"What do you mean?" Sakura replied, clearly having no idea what she was talking about. "I've only ever talked to you over my home phone Ayumi!"

Suddenly it dawned on her. Why Sakura had called her on her home phone that day and she had dismissed it as nothing. Why her text convastaion was cleared when she accidentally saw Sakura's text window. Sakura hadn't been texting her at all; then who had? Ayumi explained this quickly down the phone, her voice crackling down the phone whenever she felt sharp tears pushing at her eyes. Sakura, like her was also shocked and actually very angry that someone had been impersonating her.

"That's awful!" she shouted down he phone, making Ayumi wince slightly.

"Do you have any idea who it could be then? A while back I got creepy messages and notes from an 'unknown number', do you think they could be linked at all Sakura?"

There was hesitation. Definite pause.

"Listen Ayumi, What's your address? I'm coming over."

* * *

**A/N We're nearing the ending of the story, I think It has about two chapters left. Sorry for the lack of updating, as you will know from my previous notes i'm finding it difficult to write this story, it's not that I don't enjoy it, it's just that it's a bit time consuming and I'm also writing several stories at the moment that I enjoy a bit more and also i'm having an OVERLOAD of school work. :(**

**But I still love corpse party, and you as well. Especially the latter. In a writer-to-reader way.**

**Thanks, and until next chapter! :3**


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